Ring Around the Buffy : Finale
by Kellan L
Summary: Angelus has turned, Legolas left behind in Sunnydale, Xander's a Vampire and there's a new threat on the horizon for the Slayer and all those she loves. Showing one chapter missing from Stats for some reason
1. Welcome home

L.A. 1996  
  
"She's gonna have it bad, that Slayer. World's full of big bad things," Whistler said.  
  
Angel slowly walked closer to the Demon. The dank surroundings helped to make up his mind. He was a vampire, but he knew Whistler was right. What kind of Vampire was he? He couldn't even look after himself. He needed to make a change and here it was being offered up to him.  
  
"I wanna help her," he said slowly. "I want...I want to be someone."  
  
Whistler looked at him.   
  
"God jeeze, look at you," he said. "She must be prettier than the last Slayer. This isn't gonna be easy. The more you live in the world, the more you see how apart from it you really are. And this is dangerous work. Right now you couldn't go three rounds with a fruitfly."  
  
Angel knew he was right, but still he wanted to help her. His dead heart broke when he remembered how sad she looked in the mirror. He watched the tears streaming down her cheeks and all he wanted to do was wipe them from her face and hold her close.   
  
"I wanna learn from you," he said quietly, but he meant every word. He did want to learn. He did want to help.   
  
Whistler nodded. "Alright." He turned and started walking down the sewer tunnel. Angel followed.  
  
"But I don't want to dress like you," Angel added.  
  
Whistler stopped walking and looked back at the Vampire.   
  
"Hey kid, you're annoying me," he chuckled. "You're lucky we need you on our side."  
  
  
  
Sunnydale 1996  
  
It felt like a slow tickle at first. It steadily grew stronger until Xander could no longer stand it. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a large crypt, and it took a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He had no idea how long he'd been asleep. Last thing he remembered was Galadriel's soft voice speaking the spell to put him to sleep. He hoped it hadn't been too long. He was anxious to see everyone again. Especially Gandalf. He missed his old friend.   
  
He walked around the crypt, running his fingers over the cold marble. It was beautiful craftmanship. He wondered how long it had taken to make. They couldn't have built in the few weeks he had decided to sleep. It must have belonged to someone of importance.   
  
He found the door. It was stuck tight. Straining, he pushed harder against it but it wouldn't budge.   
  
Great, he thought to himself. Where's the open switch? Had they overlooked it, or was this deliberate? He pushed harder, not giving up. He'd wasted enough time. He just wanted to be back out in the world, wherever and whenever he now was.   
  
He lost count of how long he tried to open it. Hours, days, weeks. Time still meant nothing to him. When he finally gave up, he just sunk to the floor and sat with his head in his hands.   
  
He sat like that until he heard a scratching at the door.  
  
"Who's out there?" he yelled.  
  
There was no reply, but the scratching got louder. He heard the creaking of the door as it slowly opened. A thin stream of light flowed through the small opening, casting a soft glow about the dark crypt. Xander's eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, found the sudden influx of light painful. He was happy to find that sunlight still had no effect on him. That had held.   
  
The door opened wider. He blinked as sunlight flooded the room. A shadow passed in front of the doorway. An Elf? Galadriel? Gandalf? He hoped the latter. He stood and waited as the figure stepped into the room. He didn't recognise the person standing before him.  
  
"Who...?" he asked.  
  
"The name is Whistler," the figure replied, stepping closer.  
  
Xander looked at him. He was dressed like a 70's pimp. Was he a Vampire? The daylight outside answered that question. So what was he?  
  
"A Demon," Whistler replied to the unspoken question in Xander's mind. "Not one of 'those' kinds though. There are many kinds of Demons, and not all are dedicated to destroying life on Earth. I'm here to help you kid."  
  
Xander was lost. A Demon was here to help him? Help him how?  
  
"You do realise you were fooled right kid?"  
  
"I wasn't fooled," Xander snapped. "I chose to come here, and stop calling me kid."  
  
Whistler chuckled as he jumped up on a ledge carved into the wall and sat there.   
  
"Sure you were. How long were you to sleep for?"  
  
"Until I was needed," Xander replied, not liking where this was going.  
  
"Until you were needed," Whistler repeated. "She fooled you ki...Xander. She cursed you again."  
  
Xander watched, speechless, as Whistler jumped down from the ledge and slowly walked around the room softly muttering in another language to himself. It sounded vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't place it.   
  
"Elvish," he said. "Its what Galadriel said as she put you to sleep that final time, all those years ago. Want to know the translation?"  
  
Xander nodded, but he half feared the Demon was right.  
  
"Sleep demon father, in eternal torment, until the day, one of yours with a soul, comes home to you."  
  
Xander was stunned. The Demon was right. She hadn't done as she promised. She had betrayed him.   
  
"Until the day, one of yours with a soul..." Xander looked over at Whistler, the question in his eyes.   
  
"She cursed you with something she thought would never happen. You were supposed to sleep forever. She never counted on another Vampire with a soul arriving back here. But its happened and its time for you to awaken and take your place Xander. Its time for a new beginning for you."  
  
"Where am I?" he asked, afraid of the answer he knew was coming.  
  
"You're home Xander. You're back in Sunnydale." 


	2. Huh?

Home. He was home. But when? He followed Whistler out of the crypt. The bright sun hurt his eyes after so long in the dark. He looked around. He recognised everything. It was HIS Sunnydale. The Sunnydale he'd grown up in and loved, until he found out the truth about it and its other inhabitants. Inhabitants he was now responsible for letting loose on it. He felt a twinge of guilt mix in with his relief.   
  
But he had gone to this crypt in the shadow of Mt Doom. Looking around, he also recognised his surroundings as the ones where he lost his humanity. Mt Doom was none other than the place he'd hiked in his youth. A chill ran up his spine. Sunnydale was built in the shadow of that evil place? It just kept getting better and better.  
  
"I have a question," he said finally.   
  
"Yeah kid?" Whistler had been expecting many questions. He knew this would just be the trickle before the onslaught.   
  
"If I am here, now, the first Vampire and all that, how does it work?"  
  
"How does what work?" asked a very puzzled Whistler. This kid was more confusing than he was, and confusion was HIS curse.   
  
"My life before I left. I was a normal person. I grew up with Willow, killed vampires and Demons with Buffy..." he paused and looked sheepishly at Whistler. "Bad Demons of course," he added. "Am I s'posed to show up now all Vampirish and start a relationship with everyone? And what about when they show up and take me back to Middle Earth? What the hell happens then?"  
  
'Oh boy,' Whistler thought to himself. Why did he always get the hard ones? First Angel, now this. At least he was spared from having to explain all this to the boy.  
  
"All in time," he replied, still walking away from the crypt.  
  
"No," Xander snapped forcefully. "I think now is a good time for some answers. Also, what do you mean she fooled me? Maybe now was when I was needed. Maybe you translated it wrong."  
  
He was trying desperately to cling onto the hope that he had been forgiven for Faith/Belyndra's death and the things he had done.   
  
"Follow me," Whistler said softly. He understood things must be difficult for Xander to grasp, but it wasn't his place to explain this to him. His 'bosses' had reserved that job for themselves. "I'll take you to get your answers."  
  
  
  
  
"He's awake," the male figure said, smiling at his female companion.  
  
"Yes. He is on his way to us at last. He should have been here many centuries ago though."  
  
"The Elf in her pain betrayed the cause. She cursed him thinking he would sleep for all eternity, but she didn't count on the other one."  
  
"Pain? Love is such a pitiful thing. It causes nothing but pain, yet still these creatures fall for it. I had hoped she would be stronger."  
  
The female slowly walked behind the male one and touched his shoulder lightly. He acknowledged the touch with a nod of his head. She was right. Love was such a primitive, human emotion. It brought forth such behaviours from those it touched. Selfish and unworthy behaviours.   
  
"Whistler approaches with the one. We are agreed?" the male said at last.  
  
"Agreed," the female nodded.  
  
  
  
Xander followed Whistler in silence. He had no choice but to trust the weird little Demon man. All those years of history and culture behind him, and he actually chose to dress like that? Stuck in the 70s much? He shook his head. 'Oh my god' he thought, 'I sound just like Cordelia'.   
  
"There is nothing wrong with the way I dress," Whistler snapped. "I like it. Sheesh you sound just like Ang..." He caught himself. "Someone else I know."  
  
"Angel?" Xander gasped. "You know deadboy?"  
  
"Angela, my ex-girlfriend actually," Whistler replied, hoping he'd buy it.  
  
He didn't.  
  
"So how do you know deadboy?"   
  
"I don't. We're here," he said, safe from anymore of Xander's questions.  
  
"We're where?"  
  
"You'll get all your answers here. But for now, I must go."  
  
Before Xander could speak, he vanished leaving him standing alone before a door he'd never seen before.  
  
"ENTER," boomed a deep voice.  
  
Xander pushed the door open and walked through it. It slammed shut behind him.   
  
"COME," the voice boomed again.   
  
Xander walked along the hallway, following the echoing. He stepped out into a huge room filled with light. A male and female figure stood in the centre of the room.   
  
"Nice decor," Xander said looking around the empty room. "I hope the decorator didn't overcharge you."  
  
The female circled around Xander slowly. The male stayed where he was, just watching.   
  
"You know what you are?" the female asked.  
  
"Yes," Xander replied.  
  
"And what is that?" the male asked.  
  
"A Vampire."  
  
"The FIRST Vampire," the female added. "You are the one we have waited for. You have much to do."  
  
"Hang on. Do?"  
  
The male laughed. He shot a look over to the female and nodded when he caught her eye.   
  
"You remember your life, here, before?" asked the female.  
  
Xander nodded.  
  
"Don't worry," the male said. "Soon you won't."  
  
"Huh? Excuse me?"   
  
"Your past will stay with you. The past that existed before this day in human time, but what is yet to be will be wiped from your mind. It will be as it never was. Everything will be lived again. You will live it again, as if you never had. All memories of you will be placed in the minds of your friends. They will remember everything as you do, but in reality, it never happened. You disrupted time, now time has disrupted you."  
  
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Author's note: This will be explained in time. 


	3. Deja vu

Xander looked from one to the other of the figures in front of him.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
The female figure smiled. She loved this part. Humans. Such simple creatures. So easy to manipulate.  
  
"You will remember your childhood, growing up with the people who were in your life, and they will remember you. But the future you have seen will be wiped from your memory. For now anyway."  
  
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Xander said. "I'm no longer human. I am a Vampire now. The sun doesn't bother me, but I think the whole drinking blood thing is a bit obvious."  
  
The male walked slowly around Xander muttering to himself. The female just stood watching. Soon, a red glowing aura seemed to spring up from the ground and completely swallow Xander. There was a sharp pain in his chest causing him to yell out. But the muttering continued. The aura turned violet and then finally blue. The pain eased, then disappeared completely. Xander fell to the floor.  
  
"What did you do to me?" he gasped.  
  
The female held out a crystal prism. She whispered softly, her eyes fixed on Xander's face. He felt the pain again. His mouth opened to scream, but instead, a green beam shot from his mouth and flew into the prism, lighting it up. Then the pain was gone. Xander gasped again. Only this time, he gasped for breath.  
  
"Yes," whispered the female. "Human again. The Vampire part of you is here." She held up the prism. "You will go back to your life, such as it was, as Xander Harris, human child, until the day they come to take back their Ring and their Saviour. On that day, Xander Harris the human will return to their world with them. Xander, the first Vampire, will stay here and this," she thrust the green glowing prism at him, "this will return to you. Only then will you remember everything."  
  
For a moment, all Xander could do was breathe. Its funny how much he missed it. Then her words sunk in. He was human and would remain human until the day Aragorn and the other guy came to Sunnydale. Only then would the Vampire part of him return. For a brief second he wanted to destroy the prism, destroy the Vampire part of himself. But he knew it was too late. Far too late. The only thing he could do was maybe stop himself becoming the Vampire. For another brief second he fooled himself into believing it was possible. Then he saw the look on the faces of the two in front of him.  
  
"I won't remember any of this will I?" he asked in a small voice.  
  
"Nothing," the male replied. "Nothing until the day your human side leaves this world and the Vampire part takes over again."  
  
"Why? Why are you doing this?"   
  
"There is a balance and you have upset it. It must be set right before..."  
  
"Balance?" Xander interrupted. "I upset it?"  
  
"Something is coming," the female continued. "Something that will destroy all this world as you know it."  
  
"How bad could it be?" Xander asked. "We've faced bad before..."  
  
The male laughed. "You have seen nothing."  
  
"If you don't stop it, all life as you know it will end and he will reign," the female said.  
  
"Ok, you guys really need to get a new record. I've heard this one before. Faith destroyed the Ring. Sauron was defeated. He can't come back," Xander said as he finally found his feet and stood up.   
  
"There is evil unknown to you, unknown to anyone," the male whispered in his ear. "And its coming...soon."  
  
"Remember," the soft voice of the female floated around him. "You are only human until they take you. Then its up to you to stop them releasing all that has been contained."  
  
There was a flash of light, then everything went black.   
  
Xander was home.  
  
  
  
Xander woke up feeling strange. It was the first day back at school so he really didn't think much of it. School had this effect on him. At least he'd have Willow there to help him through the harder classes. Namely, all of them. He dragged himself out of bed, pulled on his clothes and after grabbing his skateboard, he was off. His parents were still passed out. They'd never know he was gone. Not that he cared.   
  
He was dodging the other students when he saw her. He felt the strongest sense of deja vu before he crashed into the handrail. He lay there shaking his head for a moment. When he looked up, he saw Willow standing over him, smiling as she pushed a strand of her long red hair behind her ear.  
  
"Willow!" he exclaimed, scrambling up to his feet. "You're so very much the person I wanted to see."  
  
"Oh?" she smiled. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah," he said as together they walked towards the entrance to school. "You know, I kinda had a problem with the math."  
  
"Which part?" Willow asked.  
  
"The math," Xander admitted. "Can you help me out tonight, pleeeease, be my study buddy?"  
  
Willow stopped walking and looked at Xander. "What's in it for me?" she asked.  
  
"A shiny nickel."  
  
  
  
Xander saw the girl a while later. She was scrambling to pick up the contents of her spilled bag. He quickly crouched down to help her.  
  
"Can I have you?" he asked.  
  
She shot him a confused look. Xander blushed when he realised what he had actually said.  
  
"Ah, can I help you?" he corrected himself.  
  
The girl looked over at him and smiled. "Thanks."  
  
He felt that deja vu again, but shook it off. Still, he couldn't help asking, "I don't know you, do I?"  
  
"I'm Buffy. I'm new," she replied.  
  
"Xander, is, is me," he stammered, still trying to shake off the feeling he did in fact know her.  
  
They finished gathering up Buffy's things.  
  
"Um, thanks," she said as she stood back up.  
  
"Well, maybe I'll see around...maybe at school...since we both...go there," Xander managed to say.  
  
"Great," she smiled. "It was nice to meet you."  
  
Xander watched as she walked off down the hallway.  
  
"We both go to school. Very sauve. Very not pathetic."  
  
He was about to walk away when he noticed something on the floor. He reached down and picked it up.   
  
"Oh hey," he called after her. "You forgot your...stake?"  
  
She didn't hear him, just continued walking away. Xander felt uneasy as he held the stake, but he banished it from his mind and walked away to his next class. 


	4. So surreal

Sorry for the major delay in updating. Real life....nergh!!!! Slowly working my way up to Series 3 where I started all this off. We'll catch up with Buffy, Legolas and everyone there soon...I promise.  
  
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"This world is older than any of you know," Giles said as he looked around the table at the confused faces of Xander and Willow. Buffy knew all this already so it wasn't as daunting to her as it would be to the others. "Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their... their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures..."  
  
"And Vampires," Buffy added.  
  
"Okay, this is where I have a problem," Xander piped up. "See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a 'talk' with vampires in it."  
  
"Isn't that what we saw last night?" Willow asked.  
  
"No. No, th-those weren't vampires, those were just guys in thundering need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light. That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. Well, after I was done with the screaming part," Buffy said softly.   
  
Willow turned pale.   
  
"Oh, I...I need to sit down," she said quietly.  
  
"You are sitting down," Buffy replied.  
  
"Oh good for me," Willow said, looking faint.  
  
"So Vampires are Demons?" Xander said, taking the conversation back on track.  
  
"The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding... Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return."   
  
Xander watched as Giles spoke. He felt a cold chill run up his spine. It sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. Maybe he'd read it before. Hang on, he thought to himself. Yeah like he'd read something like that. Must have seen the movie. That was much more likely. He shook it off and listened as Giles continued talking. His mind was whirling in a state of confusion. Slayer? Why did that also sound familiar?   
  
He walked Willow to class, discussing various things for her to search for on the net. But inside him still lurked the little niggle that something was not making sense. Why did he feel so weird when Giles and Buffy talked about Vampires? Why did he feel like he knew something but he couldn't put his finger on it? He said goodbye to Willow and then watched as she walked into her next class. He couldn't let Buffy go alone to Jesse. Jesse was his friend and it was up to him to see he was safe. He turned and walked quickly out of the building. He had to catch up to Buffy and stop her from going into the Vampire's lair all alone. Something just didn't feel right.  
  
He caught up with Buffy in the tunnels. She wasn't happy to see him, but he'd expected that. She had no choice though. He was there now and he was going with her to save Jesse. They found him, too late. He had already been turned and was a Vampire. They barely made it out of the tunnels to safety. On the walk back to the school, Xander was silent. He heard Buffy talking, but his mind was whirling. Everything felt familiar, but wasn't. He felt like he was living in some sort of strange deja vu but he had no idea how or what to do about it. He walked beside Buffy, trying to sort out his thoughts, but they just got more confusing. Why did what Giles had said about the world being a hell sound wrong to him? Why did the part about a demon mixing its blood with a human sound familiar? And why did everything seem so surreal now? 


	5. Guilt

Disclaimer thingie : "Buffy" belongs to Joss and Mutant Enemy. This is written purely for something to do, not for monetary gain. Hey to my reviewers. I will try to update more regularly, just been really busy with "real life" stuff.  
  
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"Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping...waiting...and though unwanted...unbidden...it will stir...open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us...guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have?"  
  
"He was in my room last night," Buffy said as she strode into the library.  
  
"Who?" Giles asked, looking up from the pile of books he had been busy checking in.  
  
"Angel," Buffy replied. "He was in my room last night."  
  
"Are you sure?" Giles asked as he walked slowly out from behind his desk and followed Buffy over to the table where Cordelia and Xander were sitting.  
  
"Positive," she said softly. "When I woke up, I found a picture he'd left me on my pillow."  
  
"A visit from the pointed tooth fairy," Xander wise cracked, but inside, he felt a twinge. He'd felt this twinge for a while now. Not just the "I want you" twinge he always had around girls, but another one. He felt it everytime he saw or staked a Vampire. Even at times when they just talked about them. He couldn't put his finger on why he felt it, he just did.   
  
"Wait," Cordelia piped up. "I thought vampires couldn't come in unless you invited them in."  
  
Giles turned and looked at her. Was she really this naive?   
  
"Yes, but, uh," he said, "once you've invited them in, thereafter they're, they're always welcome."  
  
"Ya know, I think there may be a valuable lesson for you girls here," Xander said. "About inviting strange men into your bedrooms," he added when he saw the look Buffy was giving him. He only hoped it didn't sound as bitter when he said it as it sounded in his head. But he felt it. The bitterness that he couldn't have Buffy. That Angel, a Vampire, could have her, and had.  
  
"Oh god," Cordelia exclaimed. "I invited him into my car once. That means he can come into my car whenever he wants."  
  
"Yup, you're doomed to having to give him and his vamp pals a lift whenever they feel like one. And those guys never chip in for gas," Xander joked.  
  
Cordelia just shot him a disgusted glance and looked away. Did he take nothing seriously?  
  
  
  
  
Jenny was dead. All Giles could think about was those wasted weeks when he had frozen her out of his life. So much wasted time, and now it was too late. All he saw was her eyes staring sightlessly at him. He wanted to hold her again, breathe life back into her, but he knew it would do no good. He had to call the police, do everything by the book, then get his revenge on the one he once called his friend. Angel.  
  
  
  
"Why did you come here?" Giles yelled as he pushed Buffy away from him. "This wasn't your fight."  
  
She pulled back his fist and punched him hard on the jaw. He fell to ground and lay there.  
  
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" she yelled back at him. She looked at him, lying on the ground, and her heart broke. She couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She crouched beside him and wrapped her arms around him as they flowed down her cheeks. "You can't leave me. I can't do this alone."  
  
Giles finally let the tears that had burning behind his eyes fall as he clung to Buffy.  
  
  
  
The funeral had been hard for Xander. He felt such...guilt, but he didn't know why. He stood away from the others and watched their tears and sad faces. The feeling of guilt had been growing for a while now. It was the twinge he had been feeling. Guilt. But he didn't understand why. Was it because he had lusted after Buffy and now that Angel had turned, he could finally make his move? He was finally able to tell her he had wanted her after all this time just when things were going bad for her. Was that why he felt so guilty? But he had been feeling this way since before Angel's turning. In fact, ever since Jesse and all the Vampires he'd seen after. He felt as if the whole thing was his fault. As if he was to blame for every Demon and Vampire that they came up against was his fault and he hated that feeling. 


	6. How it all began

Because I have forgotten most of this, and no doubt some of you will have as well, I am posting bits from Part One of this story here as an update.  
  
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"Is she staying then?" Willow asked Buffy.  
  
Buffy nodded. They had saved Faith from being sent back to England and to the Watcher's Council, but what they would do with her now was the question. Buffy didn't know if she could trust her again, and slaying was hard enough without not being able to trust the person you were slaying with. She'd always had doubts about Faith and now she was sure she had been proven right on them. She'd always enjoyed the slaying far more than she should. And now with the death of the Deputy Mayor, Buffy was even more sure tha something wasn't right with Faith. Whether or not they could help her was anyone's guess. She only hoped it wasn't too late. Angel had tried and he might have succeeded, but with the intervention of the Watcher's, his work was most likely in vain.   
  
"Buffy?" Willow said softly.  
  
"Sorry Wills, I was miles away," she replied, pushing her hair back behind her ear. "I just don't know what we're going to do now. I mean, Faith killed a man, and everything has changed. How do we move on now?"  
  
"I don't know Buff."  
  
  
  
"You had no right to interfere, it was Council business," Wesley snapped.  
  
"And if you had of left things alone, we would have been able to deal with it appropriately in our own way," Giles snapped back.   
  
"Whoa! War of the Watchers," Xander wise cracked.  
  
"Not now Xander," both Watchers shouted.  
  
Giles wasn't in the mood for all this. He had enough to deal with and the last thing he wanted was Xander's remarks adding fuel to the fire. He'd lost his position as Buffy's Watcher and now there was Wesley to deal with and Faith out of control as well. Maybe it was time for him to give up. To go do all the things he had always dreamt of doing. But deep down, he had loved his duties as Watcher, and he had grown to love Buffy. She was like the daughter he'd never had but always wanted. There was no way he could or would abandon her. Especially not to an inexperienced Watcher like Wesley. He obviously had had no idea what the world of a Slayer was like. It would be quite a wake up call for him. He'd almost blown things and gotten them killed by Balthazar. Luckily, Angel had arrived in time and Balthazar had been killed.   
  
"So...er..what happens next?" Wesley finally said.  
  
"You are the Watcher," Giles said as he grabbed his bag. "You figure it out."  
  
He strode out the door leaving Wesley and Xander alone in the library. Xander was not sure whether he should follow Giles or stay. Either way, it was late and he needed to get home.   
  
"I've gotta..go too," he said awkwardly, standing and slowly walking to the door.  
  
"Its quite alright," Wesley replied. "I have a lot to read up on. Goodnight."  
  
Xander waved as he left the library. Things were definately getting odd around here now and he wasn't liking it.   
  
  
  
"Back out on patrol already?" Xander gasped.  
  
"You shouldn't sneak up behind me," Faith replied climbing off him. "I could have hurt you."  
  
Xander sat up. His ribs felt bruised from her kick. She'd been the first woman he'd slept with. She'd even tried to kill him. Still, she drew him to her. There was an attraction between them. He could sense it. Why couldn't she?   
  
"Its a bit late to be out isn't it?" Xander asked as he struggled to his feet.  
  
"Just walking," she said. "I heard a noise. Anyway, what are you doing out?"  
  
"Just walking."  
  
Truth was, he was hoping he'd bump into her. That night was amazing, and although she had tried to hurt him, he wanted her still. He didn't see her psychotic side slipping though. He knew he could help her. He could be the one to get through to her. If she'd let him.  
  
"Faith....." he started to say.   
  
"Duck," she shouted.   
  
From behind them sprung two vampires. Faith lunged at both, striking the smaller one, sending him sprawling onto the ground. She threw Xander a stake.  
  
"Make yourself useful," she said as she kicked the larger one in the chest.   
  
Xander grabbed the stake and drove it into the smaller one's chest. He gasped then turned to dust. Faith seemed to be handling herself with the larger one. He sat and watched, waiting to see if he was needed to help. She had him in a headlock and was bashing his head against the wall. One last punch had him on the ground. She grabbed her stake and jumped on him.  
  
"Soon," the vampire muttered. "Boromir will destroy you all."  
  
"Well Boromir will have to wait his turn," she replied as she sunk the stake into the vampire's heart.   
  
He was dust. Faith stood up, wiping his remains from her clothing.   
  
"You ok?" Xander asked, rushing over to her.  
  
"Yeah," she said pushing him away. "I can take care of myself. I don't need you."  
  
Xander's face fell. She'd change her mind and see she needed him. He could wait.  
  
The flash of light caught them both by surprise. It blinded them for a second. When their eyes adjusted to the dark again they saw two figures standing in the darkness. Faith reached for her stake. As they drew nearer she saw they were like no vampires she'd ever seen before. One was very blonde and tall. He carried a bow and had a quiver of arrows on his back. She could just make out something different about his ears too. The darker man was tall, dressed in leather and carried a sword.  
  
"Well well well," she said. "If it isn't Robin Hood and Little John."  
  
Aragorn looked around. Nothing made sense. This place was like nothing he had ever seen before. The buildings were strange and different. They stood so high and he couldn't tell what they were made from. Even the ground was strange. Instead of dirt or grass, it was black and hard. He knelt down and touched it. Again, he couldn't tell what it was.   
  
"Well well well," came a female voice. "If it isn't Robin Hood and Little John."  
  
Aragorn stood back up and drew his sword. He saw the woman standing around ten feet in front of them. With her was a male. Legolas slowly pulled out an arrow and placed it against his bow.   
  
"Wait," Aragorn whispered.   
  
He could see they were unarmed, but that didn't mean they were not dangerous. This was a strange place. There was no telling what powers or weapons these strangers had. They had to be careful.   
  
Slowly the woman walked closer. She was dressed like no woman they had seen before. Her body was barely covered by what she wore. Her shirt barely covered her chest, leaving her stomach bare. Her pants were so tight, she must have trouble walking. Never had either seen any woman so indecently dressed. Legolas looked down at the ground, a slight blush suffusing his handsome features. Aragorn continued watching her drawing nearer. She reminded him of his beloved Arwen. She had the same fire in her eyes and same dark beauty.   
  
"So," she said as she stopped in front of them. "Demon or Vampire or just lost on your way to a costume party?"  
  
Aragorn was happy to discover he could understand her.   
  
"I am a man," he replied.  
  
"I can see that," she said, slowly circling them both. "What's with the Robin Hood bit?"  
  
Aragorn was puzzled. Robin Hood? He watched her, keeping one eye on the male. He was staying back for now, but at any time he could attack and Aragorn wanted to be prepared.   
  
Faith stopped in front of Legolas.   
  
"Are those ears real?" she asked, reaching up to touch them.  
  
Legolas jerked his head up and slapped her hand away. He let out a loud shout in Elfish. Faith pulled back her arm and swung at Legolas, but Aragorn caught her fist before it connected with the Elf's face. He laughed.   
  
"That's not how you greet an Elven Prince," he chuckled.  
  
"Prince huh?" Faith said as she wrenched her hand out of Aragorn's.  
  
He could see she was more like Arwen in a lot of ways. It was just making his heart ache more.   
  
"So what did he say then?" she asked.  
  
"You don't want to know," Aragorn chuckled.  
  
"Um, Faith," called Xander. "Everything ok?"  
  
She had forgotten all about him. He was waiting back in the shadows, just watching. Not that she expected anything different from him. Xander was many things, but he was not brave.   
  
"Fine," she called back. "Everything is just fine."  
  
Slowly Xander walked up to the others.  
  
"Hi," he said. "Xander, is me. You are?"  
  
"Aragorn," he replied. "This is...."  
  
"Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood," Legolas said at last.   
  
"Royalty," Xander said. "Here in good old Sunnydale."  
  
"Sunnydale?" Legolas turned to Aragorn and broke into Elfish again.   
  
"Ah guys," Xander interrupted. "In a language we all know."  
  
"In Elven legend, there is a mention of a Sunny Dale and a warrior who will come to save Middle Earth from an evil," Aragorn replied. "But its legend, and cannot be this place."  
  
"Cool," Xander said.  
  
"Middle Earth? What's that?" asked Faith.  
  
"Its where we're from. Our home," replied Legolas. "Home of the Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves, Men, Fairy Folk, and the Evil Ones."  
  
"Ooooooook," said Xander. "Time out. Anyone else just lose reality?"  
  
Faith raised her eyebrow. She was just beginning to like these two too. They were just a couple of crazies out for a lark.   
  
"Lets go," she said grabbing Xander's arm. "We had better tell someone that there is a Boromir in town."  
  
"Boromir?" gasped Aragorn. "How do you know Boromir? He's dead. They killed him."  
  
  
  
  
"So you claim you know Boromir," Giles said as he reached for a book.  
  
"Mr Giles," interrupted Wesley. "I am the Watcher here. I suggest you sit down and just..."  
  
"Watch?" Xander wise-cracked.  
  
"Precisely," said Wesley. "Now, you say you know Boromir?"  
  
Giles let out an exasperated breath. At this rate they'd be here all night. This new Watcher was intolerable. He sat and watched as Wesley rummaged through the books on the shelves looking for the Demon Guides. If the new Watcher didn't want help, he wouldn't offer it again.   
  
Aragorn nodded. He glanced around the room they were in. Books were everywhere. He still felt draw to the dark female they had met and who had brought them to this place. His eyes were constantly washing over her. He could sense something about her that was different. She had a strength the others were lacking. She also had a darkness within her. He wondered if she even knew it was there.   
  
Legolas was still unsure of the strangers and was refusing to talk except in his native Elven tongue. He stood by the door, ever alert for anything that might happen. He understood them, but made no reply. He had decided to let Aragorn handle the communication. His thoughts were still on the legend. Could this be the Sunny Dale he had heard about all through his childhood? He looked around at the people in the room. Two men who lived in a world of books, a male who looked afraid of his own shadow and a woman warrior. This couldn't be the Sunny Dale of his people's legend.   
  
The door flew open and a small blonde woman followed by a redheaded one came in. Legolas reached for his bow.  
  
"Its ok," called Giles. "They belong here. They can help."  
  
Buffy looked first at Legolas and then at Aragorn.   
  
"Did I miss my invitation to the costume party?" she asked.   
  
"Very funny," replied Giles. "These two say they are here from......"  
  
"I thought we agreed that you would watch," Wesley said as he returned with the book he had been searching for.  
  
Buffy looked at Giles. She knew he didn't trust this new Watcher anymore than she did, but for now, they had to put up with him and his bumbling. She sat down at the table beside Xander and waited for Wesley to speak.  
  
"Here it is," he said, flicking through his book. "The Demon Boromir. Its rather sketchy on his origin details, but he's been around for as long as history has been recorded. The theory is he was once human like us, but was perverted by magic into a Demon."  
  
"He was human," Aragorn said sadly. "He was a great warrior and a friend."  
  
"You knew him?" Buffy gasped incredulously. "But if he was human that far back, how are you still alive?"  
  
"And why are you here? Now?" added Willow.  
  
Aragorn looked over to the door where Legolas stood. They wouldn't be able to find the ring on their own and if the Valarauko, the Demon, who stole it was indeed Boromir, they were going to need help. They had to trust these strangers. He could see the small blonde was a warrior like the dark one. But where a darkness was worming its way through the dark one, no darkness existed in her. Her soul was pure. He sensed a deep love and a deep sadness within her. He also knew instinctively he could trust her.   
  
Legolas sensed the same things about the small blonde that Aragorn did. She knew about Demons and other creatures that were long forgotten even in their time. Even the ones that were struggling into existance when they were journeying with Frodo. She was also not afraid and that puzzled him. He could see in her eyes that she had seen things no human should see and she still lived to continue their battle against them. He nodded at Aragorn. They had no choice but to trust these people.  
  
  
  
"Big sword," said Xander. "You fought much?"  
  
Aragorn smiled. He was beginning to like this guy more. At first he'd seemed spineless and not worth noticing, but he saw now it was an act. He used his humour as an act to throw others off guard. He could see how it worked. He'd thought him nothing at first, but he now saw his loyalty, his strength. All these strangers had the same will and the same spirit. They had all been through a lot together and it showed in their devotion to each other.   
  
The dark female, Faith, was an enigma. He didn't feel the same devotion and love around her as he did the others. What he did sense was turmoil and mistrust. Maybe her dark side was beginning to show itself and the others were seeing it. Either way, no matter how much he was drawn to her, how much she reminded him of Arwen, he would have to be on his guard around her.   
  
"Many battles," he replied.   
  
"And now you are looking for this Boromir Demon to get back a ring?" Faith asked.  
  
"Yes," Aragorn said, turning to look at the Slayer.  
  
"Must be some ring," she said.  
  
"It is."  
  
A spark flew between them. Aragorn sensed it, Faith sensed it and so did Xander. He didn't like it at all. He had first dibs on the sexy Slayer. After all, he'd known her longer and been the one she'd turned to after the fight with the Apocolypse Cult. She'd been his first, and in time, she would see he was the one for her.   
  
"So we find the Demon, get back the ring, then what?" Xander interrupted.   
  
Aragorn turned away from Faith and looked out into the night.   
  
"Then we kill him and return home to finish what we started."  
  
  
  
The library door burst open and Angel strode in.  
  
"Giles,' he gasped. "Something is up. I can feel it all around."  
  
"We know," interrupted Wesley. "Whats more, we don't need your help. Please leave."  
  
"New Watcher?" Angel asked.  
  
"New Watcher," Giles replied.   
  
"Figures," Angel laughed.  
  
"I am still here," Wesley said slamming down his book. "Kindly refrain from talking about me as if I'm not. Its getting awfully tiresome."  
  
Angel turned back to Giles. He owed nothing to the new guy. But Giles had always held his respect and he owed him so much still.   
  
"So what do you know?" Giles asked him, cutting Wesley off with a look.  
  
"There is an evil circling around the town. All the other Vampires are either leaving or moving towards it. I'm not sure where it is, or what it is, but its big. I don't know if it can be stopped this time. Its growing in strength with each passing minute. Soon it will be beyond us, beyond anyone."  
  
Giles removed his glasses and wiped his eyes. He only hoped that Buffy and the others could find Boromir and that they could stop him before it was too late.   
  
"We know," he replied. "We found out from, well, some visitors from another place and time."  
  
"Now really Mr Giles," Wesley said, beginning to feel very put out now. He was the Watcher here, not some child to be ignored. "Do we really need the help of some Vampire?"  
  
"I think you are forgetting that this Vampire saved your life," Giles replied. "I think you need to shut up and sit down unless you have something useful to add."  
  
Angel laughed. Giles rarely lost his temper anymore, but when he did, it was fireworks. He had expected Buffy to be here and he was disappointed to find she wasn't.  
  
"Where is everyone?" he asked.  
  
"I sent them out looking for the..."Giles started to say.  
  
"Alone?" yelled Angel. "Without knowing what they are up against?"  
  
"Not alone," He continued. "If you will kindly let me finish. As I was saying, we have some visitors who know what is going on. They are out with Buffy, Faith and the others."  
  
"Is it wise to have Faith out so soon?" Angel asked.   
  
"I am her Watcher," said Wesley. "I felt she would be of use."  
  
Angel ignored Wesley and continued addressing Giles only.  
  
"These visitors. Who are they and why would they be of help?"  
  
"They come from a distant time, from where this evil threat comes from. They are here to retrieve a ring that was stolen from them before they could destroy it. They know the Demon who has stolen it and might know how we can stop him."  
  
Angel nodded. They were going to need all the help they could get.   
  
  
  
Boromir could feel their presence before he could see them.   
  
"Aragorn," he growled. "Still chasing the ring. Nothing ever changes does it?"   
  
Aragorn and Faith stepped out of the shadows. He held out his hand stopping Xander from following. If anything happened to them, he'd need to return to the others and lead them there.   
  
"Its good to see you again Boromir," he replied.   
  
His eyes quickly flicked around the room. They were vastly outnumbered and he knew they had no chance against the gathered Vampires and Boromir. Faith's eyes were drawn to the flash of gold on the Demon's finger. She knew this was what they were searching for. Its power was like a magnet to her, filling her with the desire to possess it. She took a step forward. The Vampires closed around Boromir. It was as if they could sense her desires and longing.   
  
Aragorn was soon disarmed and held between two of them. Faith never moved once. Her gaze never once left the ring.   
  
"Put him in there," Boromir ordered pointing to the small room in the corner. "I want him around to see my new World before he dies."  
  
"The woman?" asked one.  
  
Boromir smiled as his eyes returned to Faith.  
  
"Leave her," he said. "I will deal with her myself."  
  
Xander watched as the Vampires dragged Aragorn off and Boromir took Faith away from his sight. He knew he was no use to them on his own. He needed help. Reluctantly he slipped away and ran into the night.   
  
  
  
"Maybe Faith and the others had more luck," Buffy said as she pushed open the door of the library.  
  
Legolas and Willow walked inside. They had walked around for hours and seen nothing out of the ordinary, except a distinct lack of Vampires.   
  
"Ah good, you're back," said Giles, looking up from his book. "Any luck?"  
  
"Nothing is out there," Buffy replied as she sunk down onto a chair. "Its not natural."  
  
Willow walked over to the computer and sat down at it. She was soon typing away furiously into it. Legolas watched with awe as she worked. This world both fascinated and scared him. It was filled with things beyond his imaginings. But his interest was still with the blonde called Buffy. She had beauty, strength and honour he valued so highly. She was also so much like him.   
  
"Buffy."  
  
She turned.   
  
"Angel," she said softly.  
  
Legolas instantly saw that this man was the cause of the sadness in her eyes. He also got the feeling this man wasn't mortal. He couldn't put his finger on what he was. He was like nothing he'd ever encountered before. He could see an evil inside him, but it was held back by something. He could also see the same sadness echoed in his eyes. They loved each other, but could not be together.   
  
Angel noticed Legolas watching him and Buffy. He had to be one of the visitors Giles had spoken of. He could almost feel the the Elf's probing into his mind. He also noticed Buffy's look of guilt as she looked up at him.   
  
"Any word from the others?" she asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"No, nothing," Giles replied. "But they will be back soon I imagine."  
  
Wesley coughed.  
  
"I am still here you know," he said. "And I am still the Watcher in charge."  
  
"And a bang up job you have done so far," Buffy retorted.   
  
"Why thank you," Wesley replied, her sarcasm totally lost on him.  
  
"So what have you discovered in our absence?" she asked.  
  
"Well, actually," Wesley said. "Not a lot."  
  
"Again, bang up job you're doing," she said. "Giles...."  
  
The door flew open and Xander ran in.  
  
"Faith....captured.....warehouse.....danger.....ring.......Demon.....help.....now," he managed to say before collapsing.   
  
Legolas reached him first.  
  
"Aragorn?" he asked.  
  
"They have him too," Xander said.  
  
"Then we have to find this warehouse and get them back," Buffy said as she handed Xander a drink.   
  
  
  
Faith sat down on a chair, watching as Boromir slowly walked around the room. He was certainly one of the best looking Demons she had seen. She noticed his eyes washing over her more than once. Advantage, Slayer. She was still drawn to the glint of gold around his finger. The urge was building inside her. Want....take....have. She wanted that ring and she had no idea why. She would take it from Boromir. She had never failed obtaining anything she'd ever wanted in the past and she had no intention of starting now.  
  
  
  
There seemed no way out of the room. Aragorn continued looking. He couldn't give up now. Who knew what Boromir was doing to Faith. She may have had the spirit of his beloved Arwen, but he had no idea she was just as capable as Arwen of taking care of herself. He had to get out of this room. Boromir could not be allowed to succeed. The ring had to return to Frodo and to Middle Earth. It had to be destroyed.  
  
  
  
"Over there," Xander whispered pointing to the room where Aragorn was held.  
  
Angel quickly strode over to it and kicked it open. Aragorn jumped back. He was wondering how long he'd had until Boromir got sick of waiting and came for him. So he'd sent one of his followers to get him. Well, he would not go quietly. A solid blow connected with the Vampire's face, knocking him off his feet. He had to find his sword. He always felt lost, almost naked without it. He left Angel sprawled on the filthy floor as he ran out of the room.   
  
"Aragorn," Willow called. "Its ok. Its just us."  
  
He paused. It was the little redhead from the library. He turned back to Angel and offered his hand to help him up.  
  
"My apologies," he said.   
  
Angel took his hand and climbed back onto his feet. He dusted himself off.  
  
"No worries," he replied. "We have to leave now."  
  
Angel turned back towards the door. A shout from Aragorn behind him made him stop.  
  
"But the girl?"  
  
"She will be saved," he replied without turning back. "Buffy and your friend are finding her now. Faith will be fine."  
  
"Anyway," added Willow. "She can take care of herself."  
  
  
  
Buffy quietly opened the door at the top of the stairs.   
  
"You should wait here," she said softly. "I'll go in and see what, if anything is in there."  
  
Legolas nodded even though he didn't agree with her. She shouldn't go in alone. If Boromir was waiting, she could be caught or even killed. All he could do was watch as she silently slipped inside.   
  
It took Buffy's eyes mere seconds to adjust to the darkness. She could hear the noises, louder now, and coming from the far side of the room. Slowly, she crept towards where she heard them. She was still hidden in the shadows when she saw what was making them.   
  
Faith, and she wasn't alone. She was in bed, making love, with Boromir.  
  
  
  
Angel turned towards the noise he heard behind him. He saw a Vampire's shocked face as he turned to dust. Looking beyond, he saw Legolas putting another arrow in his bow. The Elf had saved him from a Vampire. He didn't like owing anyone anything, let alone the creature that had stolen his Buffy away from him. The fact that she was no longer his Buffy eluded him.   
  
Seeing a gap, Buffy shouted for everyone to get out.  
  
"Faith...." gasped Xander. "We can't leave her here."  
  
"We have to," Buffy replied grabbing his arm.   
  
"We can't leave her," he said, wrenching his arm from her grasp.   
  
He ran for the stairs but Legolas stopped him.   
  
"Its too late for her," he said softly, repeating Buffy's earlier words. "We have to go."  
  
Xander slumped against the stairs. Buffy ran to his side.   
  
"She's not dead," she said as she stroked his hair. "She's just switched teams mid-game. Come on Xand, we have to get back to Giles and figure out what now."  
  
She grabbed one of his arms and Legolas the other and they dragged Xander out. His eyes were firmly on the stairs, looking up to where faith was. He was imagining the torture she must have had to endure to turn on them. He had no idea what it was she was doing and that it was voluntary.  
  
  
  
Wesley and Giles looked up from their books as everyone rushed back into the Library. Giles could see Aragorn, but no Faith. He stood up and rushed over to them.  
  
"Faith?" he asked.  
  
Buffy shook her head. She led Xander over to the table and helped him sit down. The rest soon followed. Wesley looked from one to the other. He didn't understand. Why had they left Faith behind? Was she dead?   
  
No-one was talking. They all just sat and looked sadly at each other. He noticed the two visitors in a corner whispering in a language he couldn't understand. The tall blonde was very upset about something and the dark warrior was having trouble calming him. He wished he could understand them. But he was getting used to being the one always left out of the loop. It had happened all through his life. Firstly at school, then when he trained as a Watcher. No-one took him seriously. But here, HE was the Watcher, not Giles. They would have to listen to him and follow his orders.   
  
"Excuse me," he said loudly. "What happened and where is Faith?"  
  
Everyone looked at him. Aragorn and Legolas stopped talking and joined the others. Then Wesley noticed everyone turn to look at Buffy.   
  
"It was too late for Faith," she said softly, taking Xander's hand in her small one.   
  
"She's dead?" Wesley gasped.  
  
"She's joined them," Buffy replied.  
  
  
  
Faith watched Boromir sleep. He definately was a good lay. She finally saw Buffy's attraction to the demonic kind. Angel was, after all, a Demon too. There was just something about them. Maybe the added evilness that banished all their inhibitions. Whatever it was, she liked it so much more than the "boys" she usually slept with. Take Xander......please...she thought to herself. What could she have been thinking that night? She shook her head and focused back on the ring. Her eyes wandered down to Boromir's finger.   
  
The thin band of gold seemed to glow. It almost seemed to have a life of its own. She reached out her hand, her fingers wanting it. Wanting to touch it, feel it, possess it. She couldn't explain it. A desire was running through her body. All her senses and every cell of her body felt alive and the tingling was driving her crazy. She needed that ring.   
  
Boromir stirred.   
  
Faith pulled back her hand and watched. His eyes stayed closed and his breathing was still heavy. She had worn him out. Gently, she eased the ring off his finger. He didn't move. She stood beside the bed and looked down at the ring cradled in her palm. She could feel the weight in her palm, and warmth. An energy seemed to flow within it. She slipped it onto her finger. Instantly she felt its power. She felt like it was a part of her and it had come home.  
  
  
  
They were all exhausted. Buffy noticed Willow was asleep in a chair in the corner. She looked so peaceful, a stark contrast to the way Buffy was feeling inside. She also had noticed Aragorn and Legolas speaking in the corner. They knew something, she was sure of it, but they weren't sharing. There was no time for secrets. She stood up and walked over to them.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked.  
  
They looked at her. Legolas was torn between the feelings he was having for the little blonde and his duty to the quest. His loyalty lay with the latter and he knew it. His mind, however, was on the legend. It was constantly on his mind, much like the little blonde was. More and more his eyes and thoughts were drawn to her.   
  
Aragorn didn't agree with him however about this being the Sunny Dale where a saviour for Middle Earth would come from. It was a legend after all, not a prophecy, and not a foretelling. Just a fairytale he'd grown up with. It certainly had no bearing on anything that was going on here and now. Did it?   
  
"There's more to this isn't there," she continued, looking from Aragorn to Legolas.  
  
They knew they had to tell the others about the legend. She'd never give up. Sighing, Legolas sat down at the table.   
  
"For many generations, my people have spoken of a saviour that would one day come to save Middle earth from an unknown evil," he said.  
  
"And what has that to do with us?" Xander asked.  
  
"The saviour comes from the Sunny Dale," Legolas continued looking at Buffy as he spoke.   
  
"The Sunny Dale?" Giles said softly as he closed his book. "And you think that......."  
  
"Its a story told to children at bedtime," Aragorn interrupted.  
  
Legolas jumped out of his seat and turned to the warrior, saying something in the language only they understood. Soon they were shouting at each other again. Their argument woke Willow up.   
  
"Ok boys, don't make me separate you," Buffy said as she stepped between them. "Whats going on?"  
  
"It's not important," Legolas said, shooting an angry look at Aragorn.   
  
"What have I missed?" asked Willow as she yawned and wiped her eyes.  
  
"Welcome back to wackyville Wills," Xander said smiling at the redhead.  
  
She smiled back. She always missed the good stuff though and it seemed she'd once again missed something important.   
  
"So anyway," Giles continued. "How will you know this 'saviour' if this is indeed the Sunny Dale of your story?"  
  
Legends had always fascinated him and the chance to actually be in one, was mind blowing to him. He'd always been the one reading and wondering about them. Now he was hearing one from another place in time and it involved people he knew. Might even involve him. He wanted to know everything.  
  
"In the times of dark, trust and the saviour will come from the Sunny Dale to be your protector against the evil ones," Legolas quoted softly.   
  
"Oh good," yawned Xander. "They talk cryptic there too."  
  
Giles glared at him, his mind already trying to unravel the meaning of the words. To him, the "trust" placed where it was seemed too out of place to him. It was like it was trying to tell them something. He noticed everyone seemed to be on the point of exhaustion. It had been a long and terribly interesting night.   
  
"I suggest we continue this later after some rest," Wesley piped up at last. "Not much we can do right now."  
  
Everyone was startled. They had all forgotten the new guy in all the excitement. He had a point though, they could all see it.  
  
"Right," said Giles. "You had better get home and get some rest. We'll meet back here later."  
  
"Ummm Giles," said Willow as she stood up and stretched. "What about them?"  
  
Giles looked at Legolas and Aragorn. He'd forgotten them too. They would need rest too and they couldn't stay here.   
  
"They can come with me," he replied. "We'd better get a move on before it gets much later."  
  
  
  
"Wee Willy Winky," sang Faith stepping out in front of the little barman. "What's the hurry?"  
  
Willy halted. It was the Slayer, the other one. This one scared him.   
  
"Just...on my....way home," he stammered.   
  
She slowly circled Willy, taking perverse pleasure in his terror. She knew he was scared of her. More scared of her than he was of the Demons and Vampires he hung out with every day. He knew she didn't need him and therefore, his life had no value to her. To the Demons, he was a link to the outside world, not to mention the only place they could get cheap booze. To Buffy, he was a source of information, but to Faith, he was nothing.   
  
"But I'm thirsty," she pouted. "Don't you wanna buy a girl a drink?"  
  
Willy thought about Angel passed out in the bar. He'd be ok with Faith. After all, she was a Slayer too, and friends with the blonde one. He didn't trust her, but he really had no choice. He turned back towards the bar.  
  
"Ok, but just one," he said reluctantly. "I need my sleep too."  
  
Faith grinned and skipped after him. She felt better than she had in a long time. In fact, the last time she felt this good was when she set her last Watcher up to die by Kakistos' hands. No-one ever suspects the Slayer, she thought to herself. She watched as he unlocked the bar.   
  
"Ah one thing," he said. "Angel is inside..."  
  
Faith's smile grew. She didn't have to search for the Vampire after all. He had fallen into her lap, so to speak. She grabbed Willy's face and kissed him.   
  
"Now scram," she said.   
  
"But...." he said looking around.  
  
"I'll lock up," she replied, taking his keys from his hand.  
  
She pushed Willy out of the door and locked it. Angel was slumped over the bar. She stood watching him sleep for a minute. He was beautiful. Her desires rose within her body. She also noticed the ring started glowing as she moved closer to him, a warmth spreading through her finger from it. She'd start with Angel. He would be hers, then everything else Buffy had. She'd be the one they all wanted to be like, be the one they all praised. Soon it would be "Buffy who?" and she couldn't wait. She sat down at the bar beside him and stroked his hair. A surge ran through the ring. Its power was growing.   
  
Angel stirred.  
  
"Buffy?" he whispered softly.   
  
Always Buffy, Faith thought angrily. But no more. It was her turn to be the one.   
  
"No Soul Boy," she whispered softly back into his ear. "Its me."  
  
Angel opened his eyes. He had no idea where he was. Then it came rushing back. Buffy, in the arms of another, whiskey, Willy's Bar. He knew where he was. But how or why or what was Faith doing there? He wanted to sleep, to forget what he'd seen.   
  
"Shouldn't you be with the others?" she asked.  
  
Angel threw the bottle at the wall. Faith jumped as it shattered. Trouble in paradise? Her timing was perfect. He was ripe for her to pluck from Buffy. She ran her hand slowly down his cheek, turning his face to hers. She leant in and kissed him.   
  
For a second, Angel returned her kiss, then he remembered. He didn't want Faith. He wanted Buffy and only Buffy. In his 200 plus years he'd never loved like he loved her. She was his heart and his soul. He couldn't exist without her. He didn't want a substitute Buffy. Especially not one as dark as Faith. He felt it inside her, growing, worming through her soul. The darkness she tried to hide but now, was increasingly unable to. He pushed her away and staggered to his feet.   
  
"Let me guess," Faith spat. "Buffy. Its always Buffy. Am I not good enough for you? I'm a better Slayer than she'll ever be, and I would be so much better for you. Why can't you see it?"  
  
Angel wavered unsteadily on his feet. He had to get away from her. He sensed the power growing, it was getting stronger. Soon it would be too late. He staggered into the back room and pulled up the entrance to the sewers below.   
  
Faith ran after him.  
  
"Angel, please," she begged.   
  
She grabbed his arm. Angel could feel a burning. The ring. It was glowing firey red and was burning through his leather jacket and into the skin below it. He yelled. It burned worse than holy water. He felt a surge of energy rush through him, then nothing.  
  
Faith felt the same surge. She watches Angel fall to the floor, then she turned and left the bar, and the unconscious Vampire. She made her way back to the library. No-one was there. She curled up in a chair and waited. They'd be back soon.  
  
  
  
"Faith?"   
  
Buffy shook her gently awake. Faith opened her eyes and looked up.   
  
"You're all back," she exclaimed happily. "I missed you guys."  
  
She bounced around hugging them one by one. There was a stunned silence. Giles actually blushed.  
  
"Anyone else lost?" asked Xander.  
  
Willow and Buffy both raised their hands.   
  
Aragorn noticed it immediately. She was wearing the ring. The gold band gleamed against her skin. The darkness inside her had retreated. She had somehow escaped from Boromir and been able to take the ring with her. There was no denying it now. The legend was true, and the saviour wasn't the blonde Slayer, but the dark one. He looked over at Legolas. The look on the Elf's face confirmed it. He sensed it too. Even her name, Faith, seemed to fit. In certain languages, Faith translated as trust. She was the saviour of the legend. She would return with them to save Middle Earth from the coming darkness. It was time to return before Boromir realised what she'd done and came after the ring.   
  
"Its time," he said as he took Faith by the hand and led her over to Legolas.  
  
"Time? Time for what?" asked Xander following him over. "And where are you taking Faith?"  
  
"She's the one," Legolas replied, his heart heavy. He'd hoped it had been Buffy.  
  
"The one what?" Buffy was confused.  
  
"She's the one in the legend, the saviour. We're taking her home, to Middle Earth."  
  
"Like hell you are," yelled Xander rushing forward.  
  
There was a flash of light eminating from the ring, followed by a loud crash. By the time their eyes adjusted to the room again, Aragorn, Faith and Xander were gone, and Legolas was standing before them still.   
  
"Nooooooo!" he yelled. "I should have gone, not the boy."  
  
"Oh dear God no," Giles suddenly exclaimed. "It suddenly makes sense. Your legend. Its not a prophecy.....its a warning. You phrased it wrong."   
  
He pointed to the book he on the table and read...  
  
"In the times of dark trust, the saviour will come from the Sunny Dale to be your protector against the evil ones. Don't you see, she's not the saviour, she's the evil."  
  
  
  
Angel woke up. Suddenly he felt incredibly hungry. He watched the setting sun with a grin spreading across his angelic face.  
  
"Well hello Sunnydale," he said triumphantly, his features changing into his true Vampire face. "Its good to be back." 


	7. Gone?

There was a flash and then everything went black. Xander opened his eyes and looked around. He had no idea where he was. It looked the set of some old Roman or Greek movie he watched late at night when he couldn't sleep due to his parents fighting. Slowly, he walked around the columns, his hands running over them to make sure they were real, and that this wasn't some weird dream.  
  
"So it is time," came a female voice from the darkness.  
  
Xander looked around, trying to find who else was there. Slowly two figures materialised from the darkness beyond the columns. A man and a woman. The woman was holding a glowly green prism. It looked familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. It was like he was living some strange deja vu.   
  
"Time for what?" he asked in a small voice.  
  
Were they going to sacrifice him to some evil Demon, or turn him into one? Xander wished Buffy was here. She'd soon kick their arses.  
  
"For you to return to what you trully are," the male said, circling Xander slowly.  
  
"What I trully am? And, and what is that?" he asked but for some reason he didn't want an answer.  
  
The female smiled as she held out the prism. It's glow flowed around Xander, wrapping him up in its green aura. He felt it seeping into every pore, its energy flowing inside his body. Then he couldn't breathe. His hands reached for his throat as he fell to the ground, his eyes looking up at the figures standing before him. They were going to kill him.  
  
The figures watched as the humanity drained from Xander and the Vampire soul took its place.   
  
Xander stopped breathing, but he was still 'alive'. As he lay on the ground a million thoughts rushed through his head. What had they done to him? Return to what he trully was? Why hadn't they answered him? What was he? He stood and faced them, feeling stronger than he'd ever felt. Suddenly images flashed in front of his eyes.   
  
Blood. Everywhere. Demonic faces all around him, worshipping him. Other faces twisted in terror. Screams all around him. And Faith. Lying on the ground in some strange village. She wasn't moving. Voices surrounding him. A female on speaking in a language he couldn't understand. Then he felt pain. He felt guilt.   
  
He remembered.  
  
  
  
"Giles?" Buffy turned to her Watcher. "What? Where?"  
  
But he didn't know what had happened or where Aragorn, Faith and Xander had vanished to. He turned from the blonde Slayer and looked at the Elf.  
  
"They have returned to Middle Earth," Legolas said softly. "And I am still here."  
  
Part of Buffy was glad he was, but why had they taken Xander and left him? Nothing was making sense. Then the words Giles had spoken just as they disappeared came rushing back to her.   
  
'In the times of dark trust, the saviour will come from the Sunny Dale to be your protector against the evil ones. Don't you see, she's not the saviour, she's the evil.'  
  
Faith was what Legolas and Aragorn had come to Sunnydale to stop and they had ended up returning her to their world where she would destroy them and everyone else living there. Maybe even this whole world too.   
  
"There has to be a way to get to your Middle Earth and to stop faith," Buffy said finally.  
  
"Yes," Giles spoke at last.  
  
Legolas sank down onto his knees. He looked up at them with a look of confusion and hopelessness in his eyes.  
  
"Without the Ring," he said, "there is nothing we can do."  
  
"I don't accept that," Buffy said reaching for a book. "Giles, you found that translation. There has to be something else. Something more we can do. We can't let Faith destroy everything."  
  
"Yes, a book," Giles mumbled. He rushed off behind the shelves and was soon enthralled in his collection of books, desperately trying to find anything that would help them.  
  
"Wills?"   
  
Buffy looked over at Willow. She'd been silent throughout this all. The redhead was staring at the space where Xander had stood before he vanished. She was back with Oz now, but she had history with Xander. They may never be together as she had always wanted in the past, she'd loved him almost all her entire life, but he was still important to her. He always would be. What would she do without him there to talk to? Would he ever come back? Had this been the last time she would ever see him? Would she never be able to touch him again? Tell him she did love him and even though she would never be with him, she always would love him? Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned from the spot he had stood and looked at Buffy.  
  
"He's gone," she said in a tiny, painfilled voice.  
  
Buffy rushed to her side and held her as the tears broke free and rolled down her cheeks. She stroked her hair but could say nothing. She was afraid she would say the wrong thing or would cry with her, and she had to be strong. She had to hold it together for everyone. They had to hold on to what little strength they all had and find a way to bring Xander back and to stop Faith, again.   
  
"We'll bring him back Wills," she said after a long silence. "We just have a lot of work to do. But we WILL bring Xander back." 


	8. Belegdagnirion

Buffy held the sobbing redhead as she cried, but her eyes were locked on the silent Elf. He was still on his knees looking defeated. She was glad he'd been left behind, but she felt sad for him. He obviously wanted to return to his own world to save it from the threat Faith posed, but instead, Xander had been taken. Her eyes caught his when he looked up and caught her staring at him. He had the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen. His pain was written in them, making him look even more beautiful, if that could be said about a male.   
  
He reminded her of Angel. His pain had also been written all over his face. Every emotion, every feeling he had, was in his eyes. She'd been able to read him like a book. But Angel's pain made him seem dark and brooding, something Xander and others commented on frequently. The pain on Legolas' face made him look more human. She wanted to wrap herself around him, holding him close and to kiss his pain away.  
  
She smiled softly at him and she noticed a flash of something in his eyes. Hope? Buffy wanted to fall apart with everyone else, but she knew she had to be strong. She had to hold everything together or they'd never find a way to bring Xander back, and send Legolas home. That last thought hurt more than she thought it could. She'd only known the Elf for a few days, and she was already terrified he'd leave her. The realist in her knew it would happen, that there could never be anything between them. But the fantasy she had wrapped herself up in was winning.   
  
She used to dream about Angel in the same way. Imagine a life together, without all the Slaying and Vampire parts. She had been thinking about it less and less these days. The pain she'd been through when he'd turned, after she thought she'd killed him, was still too fresh and loomed large in her memory. It was not something she thought she could go through again. And now, she was doing it again, with Legolas. Was she ever destined to have a normal relationship? Not that she and Legolas had a relationship. Hope springs eternal, she thought to herself as she left Willow and went in search of Giles.  
  
Legolas watched Buffy walk away and disappear behind the bookcases. Her strength and determination flowed throughout the library and he felt it. He also felt the pain she was hiding from everyone. It screamed to him as did the pain flowing through everyone else. His joined it. Would he ever see Middle Earth again? Would Aragorn realise what was coming in time to stop it happening? Would there even be a Middle Earth for him to go back to? Questions swam through his mind along with the pain. Buffy was right. He couldn't just kneel there and accept this fate. He had to find a way back. He had to help. So much was unknown about the Ring and its powers. Maybe he would be returned at some point to help out in the fight against Faith. Nothing was certain. He slowly stood up, brushing his hair back from his eyes, as he walked towards where Buffy had gone.  
  
  
  
Sweet Sunnydale, Angelus thought to himself as he walked the streets again. He didn't know how or why he was back, and he didn't care. All he knew was he had a lot of lost time to make up. And this time, that Slayer was his. But first, Boromir. After all, the more, the merrier when dealing with Buffy.   
  
His alliance with Spike and Dru had failed him last time. He'd underestimated Spike's jealousy and possessiveness of Dru, and the extremes he'd go to to keep her. Not that Angelus had had any real intentions towards her. He'd gotten over his obsession with her many generations ago. Dru had been a fun diversion, nothing more. But Spike had never been one for playing with the team, except with Buffy. Spike betrayed him and everything he'd thought they stood for all for Dru. If he'd been patient just a little longer, the interest Dru held for him would have passed and he'd have moved on to someone else. But Spike had never been known for his patience.   
  
Boromir interested him though. A Demon more ancient than he'd heard of, here, in Sunnydale. What little he'd learned of him had intrigued him. The knowledge that this Boromir was also on Buffy's 'hit list' made him want to get to know him better. At least he knew where Boromir was holed up. Angelus smiled as he made his way towards the warehouse.   
  
But first, a snack. It had been a long long time between nice fresh meals.  
  
  
  
"Anything?"   
  
Giles jumped at the sound of Buffy's voice. He'd been concentrating so hard on reading and deciphering the ancient texts he hadn't heard her approach.  
  
"Nothing substantial," he said quietly so as not be heard by the others. "But there is brief mention of the Diaries of Belegdagnirion. From what I understand, he was a friend of the Elves and he wrote down a lot of their history and encounters with the Ring."  
  
"Belegdagnirion?" Legolas said softly to himself as he joined them. "I do not know that name."  
  
Buffy turned to face him. He was so gorgeous it was hard to concentrate when she looked at him, but she forced all other thoughts from her mind and did her best.  
  
"Should you know it?" she asked.  
  
"My people didn't write our history down," he explained. "It is passed from parent to child. Some texts were written and sent for safe keeping, for the time when we would leave Middle Earth. It was coming close to that day when we set out on our quest. Belegdagnirion?"  
  
The confusion was clear on his face as he searched for any memory of that name. Then it came to him.  
  
"The boy," he exclaimed. "What is his name? His full name."  
  
"Xander...err...Alexander Harris," Giles replied.  
  
The light dawned in Legolas' eyes as he looked from Giles back to Buffy.  
  
"What is it?" Buffy asked, a feeling of dread slowly flowing through her veins.  
  
"Belegdagnirion is Elvish for Alexander Harris." 


	9. Secrets and alliances

Note : I got the Elvish translation of Xander's name using the Name Generator at www.barrowdowns.com and his whole name, Alexander Harris.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"He's alive," Buffy said quietly.  
  
"He wrote a diary?" Giles exclaimed. He saw the look Buffy shot him and added, "Xander writing?" Its an interesting development."  
  
"I guess you're right," she said. She turned to Legolas. "Its not one of his strong points, writing."  
  
Legolas nodded. He was happy that they had that little bit of knowledge. They at least knew their friend had been alive in Middle Earth at some point and that Middle Earth had still been there. But he didn't ask when these diaries had been written. Maybe everything was gone now. He didn't want to think about it. If he did, he'd not be of any use to them, and right now, it was what they needed.  
  
"So Giles, these Diaries. Where are they?" Buffy asked, bringing the subject back.  
  
"Err, its not very clear on that," he said returning to the book in front of him. "It mentions Belegdagnirion and its a bit hazy on his exact relationship with the Elves, but from little that is here, I think he was a friend and lived with them for some time after the attacks of the Valarauko?" He turned and looked at Legolas for an explanation.  
  
"Valarauko, a demon," Legolas replied.  
  
"Attacks by demons," Giles continued.   
  
"And this Beleg guy is Xander? Our Xander?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I believe so," Legolas said as he walked around behind Giles and looked at the book he'd been reading from. He was pleasantly surprised to see that he had translated most of the writings correctly, except for one part. His heart sank as he read it. He knew if he told them the correct translation, they would more than likely give up and leave things as they were. He saw what they had missed, the part where Belegdagnirion, their friend Xander, was referred to as the father of all the Valarauko.   
  
  
  
"Find her," Boromir screamed. "Bring her back, and bring back my Ring."  
  
He watched as the remaining Vampires ran from the warehouse and off into the night. He would see the girl begging on her knees for mercy before the sun rose, or he'd make sure his Vampires saw it themselves. He'd waited an eternity to possess it, and now, just as his waiting was at an end, he'd been tricked by a mere girl. It would not happen again.  
  
"I will make you plead for death bitch," he said through clenched teeth.  
  
"Always good," came a voice from behind him.  
  
Boromir turned and saw a stranger standing in the open doorway.   
  
"It is certainly my favourite part," the stranger said as he walked into the warehouse. "Although the screaming has it charm too."  
  
Boromir reached for his sword. "You have three seconds to state what you want and then..."  
  
"I want what you want," the stranger said, interrupting Boromir.  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
"The Slayer's head on a stick," Angel grinned.  
  
  
  
"Does it say how we can get him back?" Buffy asked breaking the uneasy silence. "Does it say anything else?"  
  
Legolas looked up from the book. Buffy knew he'd seen something that he wasn't saying. It was written all over his face.   
  
"Legolas, what does it say?" she said softly.  
  
The Elf looked at her. How could he tell her what he'd seen? How could he tell her that the friend she loved and was trying to get back was, by all accounts from what he'd read, a monster?  
  
  
  
Richard Wilkins looked up from the book he'd been reading.  
  
"This is good," he said. "Just what I was looking for." He closed the book and stood up. "Everything is coming together perfectly. And the rest?"  
  
The Demon took a deep breath.  
  
"We could only find the one book," she said slowly. "But the rest will be within our grasp soon."  
  
"Well make sure they are," Richard said. "I would hate for anything to disturb my plans now. I have worked so hard for so long. But I need those diaries." He slowly ran his hand through the Demon's long red hair. "Don't disappoint me."  
  
She could hear the veiled threat under his words and his caress. If they didn't find the rest of the diaries... She didn't even want to think about it. She made her way to the door.  
  
"Krytalia."  
  
The Demon turned.  
  
"Find them." 


	10. Riddles

"What happens now?"  
  
The male and female walked around the fallen Xander.   
  
"Things must be put right," the male said.  
  
"What things? How?" Xander asked.  
  
"The things you disturbed," the female replied. "You must stop the evil."  
  
"What evil? Just answer me. Stop talking in riddles," Xander yelled.  
  
The male and female paused. Did he really not understand what he had done?  
  
  
  
"So where will we find Xander's diaries?" Buffy asked again.  
  
"It does not say," Legolas replied.   
  
"But you believe they will have the answers?"  
  
Giles slipped off his glasses and stood polishing the lenses.  
  
"I think so," he said after a long pause. "From what little is said in that book, Beleg, Xander, wrote a diary of what had been and what was happening around him. If we find his diaries, we will be able to find out what happened to him after he left us and I only hope he wrote down enough about that Ring and its powers to help us find a way to get him back and to send Legolas back."  
  
Buffy's heart sank at the thought of losing Legolas but she knew he had to go back. Sunnydale was no place for an Elf. Not even one as gorgeous as he was.  
  
  
  
"Slayer? What is a Slayer?"  
  
Boromir walked closer to Angel, his sword held tightly in his hand.  
  
"Buffy? The Slayer? The one you want dead," Angel replied, keeping his eyes on the sword in Boromir's hand.  
  
"I know no Buffy," Boromir snarled. "I want the one who tricked me and stole my Ring."  
  
"Ah, Faith," Angel chuckled. "Where you find Faith, you'll find Buffy."  
  
"Why should I trust you?" Boromir asked. "You could be one of them. You are here to steal my Ring from me. My precious."  
  
"Ring? What Ring?" Angel watched the Demon stop walking. He still held tight to his sword though. "I want the Slayer's head. I could care less about some worthless piece of metal. But we could help each other get what we both want."  
  
Boromir slowly lowered his sword.   
  
"Why would you help me?" he asked.  
  
"Together, the Slayers are a challenge. I can't do it alone, and neither can you," Angel replied.  
  
"But I'm not alone," Boromir said, raising his sword again. He took one step closer to Angel and ran the blade of his sword right through his body.  
  
"Ow!" Angel gasped as Boromir pulled it out. "Now why did you go and do that? This is a $200 shirt."  
  
"You should be dead," Boromir gasped. "No-one could survive a wound such as that."  
  
"No-one human," Angel replied, his face changing.  
  
  
  
"The books mustn't fall into the wrong hands," the male said.  
  
"Already there are signs telling us that he is near to possessing them," the female added.  
  
"And when he does, darkness will come to the world, much like in forgotten times," finished the male.  
  
Xander paused. These two made about as much sense as Giles. But at least Giles arrived at an answer and he thought that was something he wouldn't be getting from these two. He had absolutely no idea what books they were talking about. If they knew who "he" was, why couldn't they stop him themselves instead of dragging him into it.  
  
"What has this to do with me?" he asked finally.  
  
"They are your books," replied the male.  
  
"The ones you wrote and the ones the Elves kept," added the female.  
  
"My diaries?"  
  
The figures nodded.  
  
"But there was nothing in them but..." he paused as the memories slowly became clearer. "Everything."  
  
"Yes. If he gains possession of your diaries, he can reforge the Ring and rule over all of the world."  
  
"Human, Demon and Vampire alike."  
  
"You cannot let it happen. He must be stopped."  
  
Xander looked up. "Who is he?"  
  
  
  
Richard caressed the cover of the book softly, much like a lover would.   
  
"Soon," he crooned softly. "Soon all will be as it should have been. Soon the whole world will be mine." 


	11. Lost and found

"Who is he?" Xander asked again.  
  
The male and female figures looked at each other.  
  
"He is the last of the line of an ancient one," said the female.  
  
"He must not gain control of the diaries," said the male.  
  
"Ancient one?" asked Xander. "Who? How can I stop him?"  
  
"You will know when the time is right," replied the female. "And you won't be alone."  
  
"The last in the line of another ancient one will help you," added the male. "Together you will defeat him and stop the evil returning."  
  
"Stop speaking in riddles," Xander yelled. "Who am I supposed to stop? Who is the one who will help me?"  
  
"That we cannot tell you," the female said softly.  
  
"It is not our place," said the male. "But you will find them and things must be put right."  
  
"But..." Xander blurted just as things went black again. He blinked to regain some focus, and when the light returned, he found himself back in his crypt at the foot of Mt. Doom.  
  
  
  
"Another Vampire," Boromir growled as he sheathed his sword. "What is it you want?"  
  
"I told you. I want Buffy dead, and I think we can help each other," Angel replied.  
  
"I'm listening."   
  
Boromir wandered over to a chair and sat. He gestured for Angel to join him.  
  
"I know this town, the ones you are wanting," he began. "They trust me and using that, I can move amongst them and find out where Faith is and where this Ring you want are."  
  
Boromir was intrigued. "And in return?"  
  
"In return, you help me destroy them all."  
  
  
  
They had been searching for weeks and only one diary had been found. Krytalia was starting to get nervous. If they weren't found soon, the mayor would have their heads...literally. She had the book from the old ones that told of their existance, but it was not clear on what happened to them after the 'Father' left. It had been assumed that they had been buried with him.   
  
Over the centuries, his crypt had been a shrine to the evil that he had unleashed on the Earth. Demons made pilgrimages to it and worshipped there. But as time marched on, it had been forgotten to all but a few. Those that did remember, had long since moved on to other shores.   
  
Krytalia remembered the story of the 'Father' as a bedtime story. It was a fairytale, a myth, but not real. Now she was beginning to believe it. The first diary had proved the existance of something/someone. The 'Father' of all Demons?  
  
"We've found it," came a shout from ahead.  
  
Had they finally found the crypt of the 'Father' after all this time searching? Would the remaining diaries be there?   
  
  
  
Xander heard the noise of someone approaching. He looked around, but there was nowhere to hide. There was also nothing he could use as a weapon either. He braced himself.  
  
  
  
Krytalia ran her hand over the markings. She couldn't read the words, but she appreciated the script it was written in.   
  
"Wait here," she said softly to the other smaller Demons who had found it.  
  
"But..." one started to say but she cut him off with a glare.  
  
"Wait here," she said again with more force in her voice.  
  
The others shrank back. They knew better than to argue with her. She was a Gravitas Demon and had the power to kill them with a look from her icy blue eyes. If she wanted to go in alone, so be it.  
  
Krytalia stood for a minute summoning up the courage to take the first step inside the crypt. She had no idea what she would find inside, but she knew that it was something she had to do. Richard demanded the diaries, and she also knew what would happen if she didn't find them. Slowly, she took the first step inside.  
  
  
  
"Aha," Giles exclaimed.  
  
Everyone jumped. It had been so silent in the library for hours as they all had been busy reading every book they could find trying to find any mention of the 'Xander Diaries' as they had come to call them.   
  
"What have you found?" Buffy asked, rushing over to him.  
  
"Here," he replied. "This must be one of his diaries."  
  
He held a small, ancient looking book in his hand.   
  
"I can't believe I overlooked it," he muttered to himself. "Its been here all along and I overlooked it."  
  
"Giles," Buffy said sharply, snapping him out of his thoughts. "What does it say?"  
  
Everyone gathered around as he opened the book. Willow peeked over his shoulder.  
  
"Thats his writing alright," she said.  
  
"Ah yes," Giles said as he adjusted his glasses.   
  
He was silent for a long time as he read through several pages. His face went pale and his lips parted as he read.   
  
"Giles!" Buffy said louder. "What does it say?"  
  
He looked up from the book. Legolas could see it on his face. He knew about the monster Xander had become. He knew everything evil in the world existed mostly because of Xander. 


	12. Realisations

Giles looked over caught the look on Legolas' face before he could hide it.  
  
"You knew?" he asked softly.   
  
The Elf turned away, but Giles grabbed his shoulders and turned him back around.  
  
"Why did you say nothing?" Giles yelled, his angry barely under control now.  
  
Anger flared up in Legolas' eyes, turning his eyes a deeper blue. He pulled away from Giles and turned back towards the door. Then he stopped. He had nowhere to go.  
  
"What's going on?" Willow asked.  
  
"That's what I would like to know," said Buffy. She stood up and walked over between Giles and Legolas. "Whenever you're ready guys."  
  
"I did not know," Legolas said softly. "I read it in his book, but could not tell you."  
  
"Tell what?" Buffy asked, slowly getting impatient with the two of them.  
  
"Xander," Giles said. "Xander becomes a..."  
  
"What?" Buffy shouted impatiently.  
  
"Valarauko," Legolas whispered.  
  
  
  
"This is wrong," the male figure said as he and the female watched Krytalia enter Xander's crypt.  
  
"If she finds him, all will be lost," the female replied.  
  
She waved her hand over the image of Xander they were watching and he disappeared.  
  
"You read my mind," grinned the male.  
  
"Don't I always?"  
  
  
  
Krytalia cautiously entered the crypt. She could feel the power surging around inside it, but it was empty. She sighed, but what had she expected? The Father of Demons was just a legend after all. But part of her had hoped it was true. She walked around it slowly, trying to read the inscriptions, but it was written in the old tongue, well before her time.   
  
Xander watched her. He couldn't understand why she couldn't see him. It wasn't as if this was a huge crypt.   
  
"Its too soon," whispered a voice inside his head.  
  
"No-one can know you are back," whispered another one.  
  
"But soon...soon it will be your time," the first voice said.  
  
"Soon you must stop him and with the ancient one's daughter of flames, you will defeat him."  
  
Great, Xander thought to himself, more riddles. Daughter of flames?  
  
"You will know her," whispered the voice of the female.  
  
"She will find you and together, your power will be strong," said the male voice.  
  
Why is it always me? Xander thought to himself.  
  
"You wrote what should have been lost," said the male voice.  
  
"If he finds it, all will be lost."  
  
"Only you and the daughter of flames can stop him and destroy the books."  
  
  
  
"Xander is a demon?" Willow asked. "But he can't be. He's....Xander."  
  
"Willow's right," said Buffy. "You read it wrong. Xander is many things but he is not a demon."  
  
"Buffy," Giles said softly. "Something must have happened to him when he left here and returned to Middle Earth. Its in his Diary, written in his own hand. Xander is, was, the first of the Vampires."  
  
Buffy looked over at Legolas to see if it was true. The tall Elf just nodded. Tears formed in her eyes as she slid to the floor, her hand covering her mouth.  
  
"No, not Xander," sobbed Willow.  
  
  
  
"Nothing," Krytalia sighed. "He will not be pleased."  
  
Xander watched as she turned and left the crypt. He? Did she work for the one he had to stop? And what was it she was looking for? His Diaries? But he had left them with the...the...Watchers Council.   
  
Giles! He had to get to Giles. 


	13. Plot bunnies

Plot bunnies? Is that a bad thing?????  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Research," Giles said, breaking the silence. "Willow, can you look up anything on the..."  
  
"Net Giles," she said with a tiny smile. "After all this time, its ok to say the word."  
  
"Net," he said, blushing slightly at her words. He still couldn't understand what was so wrong with a good book. "I have some books at home I need to look for and Buffy..."  
  
"I'll take Legolas and go patrolling," she broke in.  
  
"Yes, patrol," Giles said. "If anyone finds anything..."  
  
"We know, call," Willow said.   
  
Giles smiled at the redhead. She was taking this worse than the others. Xander was her best friend, and losing him then finding out what he had become must be killing her. He admired her strength.   
  
"Good luck Buffy," he said. The fact she was taking Legolas with her patrolling gave him a tiny niggle which he pushed down. He had seen the looks she gave him. The same ones she used to give Angel. And why hadn't they heard from him yet? It was not like Angel to not check in on Buffy or if any help was needed. He felt another niggle coming on, but there was no time for that now. He tucked Xander's diary under his arm as he led the way out of the library. It was going to be a long night, he could just feel it.  
  
  
  
Angel smiled as he left the warehouse just after sunset. He had to find out what was going on with Buffy and the others. Find out if they knew anything about where Faith was and where this Ring that Boromir was so desperate to get his hands on was. If it was as powerful as he was beginning to think it was, maybe he should keep it for himself.   
  
He walked along the near empty Sunnydale streets thinking about it when he spotted the young woman walking alone. Dinner, he thought to himself as he fell in step behind her.  
  
  
  
"No-one?" Buffy said turning to look at Legolas. How was that even possible? Had he seen himself?  
  
Legolas blushed. "There was someone, a long time ago. It was not to be. She loved another."  
  
"I know all about not to be relationships," Buffy said softly.  
  
"The tall man," Legolas said.  
  
Buffy nodded. "I loved him, maybe still do. He was my first..."  
  
"First loves are the ones that stay with you and haunt you all your days," he replied. "They are the ones you never forget."  
  
Buffy nodded, turning her face away so he wouldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. But he had. His heart felt her pain as he took her in his arms and held her close.  
  
  
  
Angel dropped the lifeless, but still warm body of the woman. He felt so much better. Nothing beat fresh, he thought to himself. He stepped over her body and continued down the alley towards the school.   
  
No lights on, he thought to himself as he arrived. They must have all gone home. Faith could be anywhere. She had acted so strange at the bar when he had seen her, just before he felt the power surge through him, bringing his true self back. The soul was no loss. It had held him back long enough, and made him nothing more than what they all called him, the Slayer's lapdog. No more. He would see her beg on her knees for mercy and the Angel who 'loved' her before he ripped her throat out. Smiling to himself, he turned and walked down the street, heading towards the first of the many cemeteries in Sunnydale. At least he'd find one of the Slayers there.  
  
  
  
Giles had looked through almost all of his books and had come up with nothing about the Diaries or anything that would lead them to it. He had found a brief mention of Belegdagnirion in one of them, but it said nothing that could help with the search.   
  
It was getting late and he was feeling tired. Slowly, he walked into his small kitchen and poured himself another cup of tea. They hadn't heard back from Wesley either. He'd left soon after they had mentioned the Diaries and hadn't returned from wherever he'd gone. Probably running back to England and the Council like the whipped puppy he was, Giles thought to himself as he blew on his tea to cool it down a little. He sat back down at his table and glanced at the books spread out in front of him. Nothing was making much sense. He only hoped Willow was having more luck. He'd not heard from her either, so he was in the dark.   
  
His head slumped down onto the books as his eyes slowly drifted closed. He was soon in a deep sleep, his dreams filled with images of Vampires, Demons and Xander.   
  
  
  
Buffy wiped her eyes and took a step back from Legolas.   
  
"Sorry," she said softly.   
  
"Do not apologise," he replied. "Nothing was done that warrants it."  
  
Buffy smiled slightly as she picked up her stake. "We should keep moving," she said. "Its been too quiet lately. Something is coming. I can feel it."  
  
Legolas pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "All will be well," he said.  
  
"I hope so," she whispered as she pulled away and walked off between the gravestone with Legolas right behind her.  
  
  
  
Angel growled as he watched the Elf embrace the Slayer. He didn't want her, but that didn't mean anyone else could have her. She was supposed to be miserable without him, not moving on to the next freak she could find.   
  
"Soon," he said to himself. "Soon I'll watch your last breath leave your body and the fire die in your eyes. Soon."  
  
  
  
The door burst open.   
  
Giles fell off his chair and rubbed his eyes.   
  
"Buffy?"   
  
"Giles, you have to help me," came a voice he had come to know so well.  
  
"Xander? How can it be?"   
  
Slowly Giles climbed off the floor and onto his feet. He replaced his glasses on his eyes and looked at him. He was different.  
  
"There's no time to explain," Xander said as he walked towards Giles. He stopped when he saw the fear in the older man's eyes. "You know don't you? You know what I have become."  
  
Giles nodded as he reached for the crucifix that had been lying the table.   
  
"They can't hurt me," Xander said as his hand reached out and wrapped around it. Gently he took it from Giles' hand. "I need your help, not your life. There is something coming, something I started, and only I can stop, but I don't know how."  
  
"How typically Xander of you," Giles said at last. "Sit down and start from the beginning." 


	14. More secrets

"And they didn't say who "he" was?" Giles asked after listening to Xander's incredible story.  
  
"No, just that he was the last in the line of an ancient one, and the last in the line of another ancient one, someone they call the Daughter of Fire, will help me stop him," Xander said.  
  
"So you are like Angel, you have your soul?"   
  
"Yes, but unlike Angel, my soul is mine to keep or lose at will. Its only my humanity holding onto it. And my guilt."  
  
Giles nodded. He didn't doubt that Xander had a lot of guilt built up inside him over everything he had done. Not that he didn't deserve every drop of it, but he had come back to stop something bigger than the evil he had unleashed, something he thought he had seen destroyed.   
  
"We'll need help," Giles said finally. "I'll call Wil..."  
  
"No you can't," Xander yelled as he jumped to his feet. "No-one must know I'm here. It would only hurt them."  
  
"They are already hurting Xander," the Watcher replied wearily. "They think you are a monster. That you are no better than...something like Spike. They need to know. Maybe Willow could help find this 'Daughter of Fire' and Buffy could..."  
  
"Buffy could slay me," Xander finished for him. "Its better this way. For everyone."  
  
"Perhaps you're right," Giles said. "But it will complicate things, for me and for everyone. How on earth will we keep this from everyone? Oh you do get yourself in some messes Xander."  
  
  
  
Willow had been looking for hours and so far she had come up with nothing. All the regular sites she used for her searches had nothing that could help with locating Xander's Diaries. She yawned as she rubbed her tired eyes. There was still one option she hadn't used.   
  
A while ago, she had stumbled on the password for the Watcher's Council site in Giles' files. She had never accessed it, but she'd kept it, just in case. Nothing else had worked, so maybe, just maybe, she could find something there.  
  
She got up from her desk and stretched. Her body felt so stiff. Sitting for hours at her computer did nothing for her back, but this was important and it was the one thing she could do that helped. Buffy slayed. So did Faith, sometimes. And Xander was just....gone. She wiped tear from her eye as she went to her bedside table and looked for the password.   
  
  
  
Angel watched from the shadows as Buffy and Legolas walked through the cemetary. He could see that they were talking, but he was too far away to hear any words. The looks they gave each other said more than enough anyway. She used to look at him that way, and she hadn't for a while now. Not that it mattered any more. She was nothing but a thorn in his side and he would take great pleasure in removing her. He had failed the last time, but he wouldn't make that mistake again.   
  
Willow.   
  
She had ruined everything when she had given him back his soul. He had suffered endlessly in that hell Buffy had sent him to when he would have had nothing but pleasure if he'd stayed without it. The things they had done to him... This time, he would remove the witch before she screwed up his plans.   
  
Smiling to himself, he spun on his heels and strode purposefully from the cemetary.  
  
  
  
"Well I must say, I am a little disappointed," Richard said after listening to Krytalia's report that they still had no luck locating the Diaries.   
  
"I am sorry," she said softly. "We thought we had found something, but it ended up being not what we thought it was."  
  
Richard walked over to his cupboard and opened it. He pulled out an amulet. Krytalia paled as she recognised it. The Amulet of Thorvin; the source of all the power and strength of her kind. With it, Richard had control over her race. He had stolen it from their leader and now held it over their heads. It was her job to retrieve it, and so far, she was failing.  
  
"You know the price of failure," Richard said as he caressed the amulet. "I will destroy this, and with it, your entire race. Find them. The time draws closer with each movement of the clock."  
  
Krytalia nodded, her eyes glued to the amulet. Its sapphire, once so bright, now seemed dull. If its fire burned completely out, they all would. 


	15. Something?

Willow was growing impatient as she waited for the page to load. She had managed to crack her way into the Watcher's Council files. There had to be something in here that would help with the search for Xander's Diaries. She had hit a dead end and wouldn't normally do this, but just maybe she would find something. Giles would kill her, but he'd only find out if she found something.   
  
"About time," she mumbled as the screen filled with file names and links.   
  
Slowly, she scrolled down. There were files after files about all the Slayers. She was tempted to look at Buffy's one, but there was no time for that, now at least. She bookmarked it for future reference and continued scrolling through the files.   
  
There were so many, she didn't know where to start.  
  
"At the beginning I guess," she said to herself as she stopped on the folder named 'Origins'.  
  
As she waited for it to open, she stood up and stretched again. Her back was beginning to feel stiff. It was times like that she missed Oz. He was always willing to massage it for her with his strong hands. She looked at the calendar. He'd be back from L.A. tomorrow. She smiled to herself as she sat back down, ready to start reading.  
  
  
  
Legolas had never before seen a warrior like Buffy. He watched in amazement as she staked her fifth Vampire of the night. She was fearless and strong. She didn't need his help at all. He was used to females needing protection and help. There were female Elves that were the exception, but on the whole, their strength lay mainly in wisdom not war.   
  
"Well that was fun," Buffy said as she dusted herself off. "Something's up."  
  
"How do you mean?" Legolas asked.  
  
"Too many Vampires out tonight. Something's up."  
  
Legolas looked around. "How do you know this?" he asked.  
  
Buffy laughed. "Years of slaying."  
  
He nodded. He still didn't fully understand what she called 'slaying' but he was beginning to see the need for it. She led such a dangerous life for one so young. He wanted to take her in his arms again and protect her from all the evil she fought. He could still feel her tiny body pressing against his and it sent a shiver up his spine. He liked feeling that way. But in the back of his mind was that small voice telling him that he didn't belong here, and didn't belong with her. He had to return to his home and there was no way he could take her with him and no way for him to stay and fit in her's. His heart grew heavy as his eyes caught hers. He thought he saw a flash of...something...before they closed up again.  
  
"We should go," Buffy said quietly. "Willow might have found something. We can stop by on the way home."  
  
Again, Legolas nodded. He didn't trust himself enough to speak. He turned to walk back the way they had come but Buffy's hand on his arm stopped him.  
  
"This way," she said, pointing straight ahead.  
  
He looked down at her hand, then up at her face. He flashed her a tiny smile as he turned back and followed her out of the cemetary.  
  
  
  
Willow scrolled through the file. There wasn't as much information about the beginning of the Council as she thought there would be. She kept coming across the names Culromen and Kalena from the little had been translated into English.   
  
Legolas would be good round about now, she thought to herself as she waited for the next page to load. Of course, assuming he could read this. Her eyes started blurring as she looked back at the screen.   
  
Then she saw it. Belegdagnirion.   
  
"Xander," she gasped.   
  
But that was all she could read from that page. His name. Frustration filled her as she clicked on the icon to print out the pages. She'd take them to school with her tomorrow, no, later today, she thought as she looked at the clock, and see if Giles or Legolas could translate them. She yawned as she pulled the last sheet of paper from the printer and laid it with the others. Her body felt as tired as her eyes as she stood up and wandered over to her bed. She fell onto it and lay there on top of the covers thinking back at all the fun times she had with Xander. And now he was gone, and from what Giles and Legolas had said, he was a monster now. Not just any monster though. Xander was the monster who started it all. He was to blame for all the Vampires and Demons and things they fought. She wasn't going to believe it. Not the Xander she knew. They had read it wrong. Hadn't they?   
  
Angel lurked outside Willow's window. Looking in, he saw her lying on her bed. She looked like she was crying. A small smile lit his face as he pondered over what to do with her. Should he kill her and leave her as a present for Buffy, or maybe take her back to Boromir's warehouse and hold her as a hostage until Faith returned the Ring? Then he'd kill her and be rid of her and her meddling magic forever. So many choices.   
  
The only problem was she'd retracted her invitation to him and he could no longer enter her bedroom without it. He snarled as he gently tapped on her window.   
  
"Buffy?" Willow called as she wiped her eyes and slid off her bed. As she approached her window, she saw it was Angel. She pulled it open. "Angel? Where have you been? We've been worried."  
  
"I had something I had to check on," he said as he took a step back. Just a bit closer, he thought as Willow stopped just in front of the open window.  
  
"What was it?" she asked, taking a step forward.   
  
"Nothing. It came to nothing," he replied watching her carefully.  
  
"Well Buffy will be glad you are ok."  
  
"Yeah, Buffy," he muttered quietly.   
  
He looked up and saw Willow giving him a puzzled look. He couldn't make her suspicious. No-one could know he was back, in a really good way as far as he was concerned. Quickly he changed the subject before Willow questioned him.  
  
"Everyone get out ok?"   
  
He caught the look of pain flit across the redhead's face. Oh good, something was up. He loved it when there was. It would give everyone something else to focus on and leave him free to start on his own plans.  
  
"Willow?"  
  
"Xander," she said softly.  
  
Angel almost laughed. Finally, something had happened to the annoying Xander. He'd been looking forward to doing something to him himself, but if it wasn't to be, he just hoped it'd been painful. Faking a look of concern, he moved as close to the window as he could.  
  
"Is he ok?"  
  
"He's...gone," Willow replied. "Xander...Faith...Aragorn...all gone."  
  
Angel's face clouded over. "Gone where?" he asked.  
  
"The Ring," she said. "The Ring took them back." 


	16. Taken

Angel growled as he turned his head from Willow. He felt such anger surging through his body and he knew his face had changed. He couldn't let her see it. He couldn't give the game away just yet.  
  
"Angel?" Willow said softly as she moved closer to the window.   
  
Or maybe he could, he thought to himself as he turned to face her. He loved the look of horror that came over her face. His hand grabbed hers before she could step back to safety.  
  
"Angel, let me go," she said softly.  
  
"Angel has left the building little one," he snarled as he dragged her out of her room. "The Vampire is back in town."  
  
"Nooooooo," Willow screamed.  
  
  
  
"That's Willow," yelled Buffy as she broke into a run.  
  
Legolas followed her up the dark street. Ahead he saw Willow struggling as the one called Angel pulled her into the darkness. He drew his bow as they neared them.  
  
"Angel please..." Willow begged.  
  
"Please what?" he laughed. "No-one can hear you witch. Where's your precious Buffy now?"  
  
"Right behind you."  
  
  
  
"Found anything?" Xander asked as he paced behind Giles.  
  
"No," replied the watcher. "And sit down. You're making me nervous."  
  
Xander sat down with a thud. He was making Giles nervous??? He'd felt nothing but nervous since he had awoken and heard that he was meant to stop the Ring being reforged by someone from a 'long line'. He felt like everything was all his fault. He had destroyed one world, and now he was back in his, and this time, the destruction of it was going to all his fault too. He had always fought beside Buffy to stop the world ending, but this time, apart from the 'Daughter of Fire', he was all on his own. Not even the Slayer could help him this time.   
  
"I think I have found something," Giles said, breaking through Xander's thoughts.  
  
"What?" he asked as he jumped off the couch and moved quickly over to where Giles sat at his small desk.  
  
Giles looked up from the book he was reading. "Its not much, but I did find a small prophecy," he said. "Its right here, but I cannot read it."  
  
"But then how do you know...?"   
  
"Its in Elvish. We need Legolas to translate it." He looked back down at the words on the page. "This has to be it. It was written by the first Watcher..."  
  
"Culromen," Xander said softly.  
  
"How did you know?" Giles asked.  
  
Xander gave a crooked smile as he looked at the older man.   
  
"Who do you think trained him?"  
  
  
  
Angel grabbed Willow by her throat and held her in front of his body. Buffy could see the changes on his face and her heart sank. She had thought he seemed upset about Legolas being around, but she didn't think he'd hurt Willow just to get back at her. She knew, and thought he did too, that there could never be anything between them again. She couldn't remain alone forever.   
  
But what had caused this change?   
  
There had been no "one moment of true happiness", at least, not with her. She looked into Angel's eyes. Could there be someone else? Faith?  
  
"Why don't you let Willow go Angel," she said as she cautiously moved closer to them.  
  
"Maybe I don't want to," he replied, squeezing the girl's neck harder.  
  
"Buffy," Willow moaned before she lost consciousness.  
  
"If you hurt her I'll..."  
  
"You'll what? Send me back to hell?" Angel laughed. "Been there, done that, and I came back."  
  
"Hell is nothing compared to where I'll send you this time if you hurt her," Buffy said softly.  
  
"Is that a threat...or a promise?" Angel laughed.  
  
"Try me," Buffy said, drawing her stake.  
  
"I have baby," Angel whispered. "It was pleasant, but I've had better."  
  
"That doesn't hurt me anymore Angel," she replied. "And you know it."  
  
"Keep telling yourself that Slayer," he said as he threw Willow over his shoulder. "But right now, I have to be somewhere." He looked over Buffy's shoulder at Legolas who had been silently listening to the exchange. "Watch out for her. She has loads of stamina."  
  
Before Buffy could react, he turned and melted into the darkness, taking Willow with him. 


	17. The prophecy

"You trained the first Watcher?" Giles gasped. "What...? How...? That must have been exciting."  
  
Xander gave a brief chuckle. "Culromen didn't see it that way. He didn't like me much." He sat down at the table and reached for the book Giles had been reading from. "I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't mentioned me in here. Where is this prophecy?"  
  
"You speak Elvish?" he asked as he pointed to a passage in the book.  
  
"A bit. I was taught by Gandalf, but that was so long ago, I will be no doubt be very rusty." He read the passage Giles had pointed out.   
  
Ilmen i atar koivie, i amil uuva hilya ar eresse i wen saa ar i atar uuva putta i mir ya karnes i korma.  
  
"Hmm," Xander mumbled as he thought about it. The words looked familiar, but his brain was having trouble sorting through everything.   
  
"Anything?" Giles asked.  
  
"The words...I know this," he said. "Where the father...something...the mother will follow and only the daughter of fire and the father can stop the one who makes the ring. Hey I knew it." He put the book down and Giles could see that what he had read was disturbing him.  
  
"What is it?" he asked.   
  
"Culromen knew this was coming," Xander said. "He knew that one day I would return and that someone would try to reforge the Ring. But how and why did he write this down? Was it his way of punishing me?"  
  
"Punishing you? Xander, what's going on? Somehow I think you haven't told me everything."  
  
"I killed his sister," Xander said softly as the memories of Goramarthien came back to him. Her sweet innocence and smile that he had destroyed when he made her a monster, like him.   
  
"Killed?"  
  
Xander looked at the Watcher. "I made her a Vampire, a monster, like me. She was so pure and sweet and she liked me. But I used that to destroy her. I destroyed everything good and innocent about her and made her a Demon. No wonder Culromen hated me. Even after Faith's death..."  
  
"Faith is dead?"  
  
"I killed her," Xander said, unable to meet the eyes of the older man. "I drained the life out of her. Ever wonder why Faith never said much about her family?"  
  
"Yes, I did wonder," Giles said as he polished his lenses.  
  
"She didn't know them, not the real one. Her mother was a power Elvish Queen, some say she was a witch, but her father was evil. Her father was the one who first forged the Ring that they wanted destroyed. She was the one who gave me back my soul and the one who tricked me into sleeping. She punished me for killing Belyndra, Faith."  
  
"Oh my," was all Giles could say. He knew Xander had kept details from him when they spoke earlier, but he had had no idea that he was keeping so much from him.   
  
"You must be so disappointed in what I have become," Xander said. "And what I have done."  
  
"It wasn't you Xander," Giles began slowly. "Your...essence.. left your body when the Demon took hold. It did those things, not you. But now you are back and you have a chance to redeem yourself, to stop something of true evil destroying everything. Its what you do now that matters, not what you have done."  
  
"I wish I could believe you," Xander replied. "I just feel so guilty all the time. Especially when I think about all the evil Buffy has fought. Its all because of me."  
  
"You cannot change things now Xander. You can only stop whatever it is that they said you have unleashed."  
  
"There's just a couple of problems. I still don't know who it is I have to stop, and even if I did know, I can't do it alone."  
  
"The Daughter of Fire," Giles said as he picked up the book. "And you have no idea who she is?"  
  
"None. But that's not all. Culromen says that the "mother" will follow me here. That can mean only one thing."  
  
"Hmm...what?"  
  
"Mara. She's coming back." 


	18. Looking up?

The silence was broken by the crash of Giles' door flying open as Buffy and Legolas burst in.  
  
There was no time for Xander to hide and Buffy stopped when she saw him.   
  
"Xander?" she asked puzzled.  
  
"Hey Buff," he replied.  
  
"Giles, what's he doing here? He's one of them now." She pulled a stake out and advanced on Xander.  
  
Giles quickly moved between his Slayer and Xander. "Buffy, its ok," he said. He reached out his hand and took the stake from hers. "He is a Vampire...the First Vampire in fact, but its quite alright."  
  
She stood staring at Xander. "Quite alright how?"  
  
"He has his soul," Giles replied.  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I've heard this before. Is it becoming a trend for Vampires to have souls now?"  
  
"Only when we screw up," Xander muttered.  
  
"Did you kill a gypsy girl too Xander?"   
  
"No," Xander said quietly. "I killed...someone else."  
  
There was a sadness in his eyes that puzzled Buffy. She wanted to ask who but Giles interrupted them before she could.  
  
"Buffy, did you find anything?"  
  
She turned to face Giles. "Angel," she said. "Something...happened to him and he has Willow."  
  
"Something happened to him?" asked Giles. "What do you mean something happened to him?"  
  
"Willow..." whispered Xander.  
  
"He isn't Angel anymore. He's Angelus again," she said. "And before you say it, no I did not give him any moments of happiness so don't even start that."  
  
"I wasn't thinking any such thing," Giles said stiffly as he slowly wiped his lenses. "But someone or something has obviously made Angelus return and we must find out what."  
  
"We so don't have time for that," said Buffy. "He has Willow."  
  
"And we shall save her," replied Giles. "But we need to know more before we just rush in. We don't even know where he would have taken her."  
  
"Boromir."  
  
They all turned to look at Legolas.   
  
"So Robin Hood stayed behind here," Xander quipped. "We wondered what happened to you. Well you must be happy about that Buffy."  
  
"Not now," she snapped. "I don't have time for this." She turned back to Legolas. "What about Boromir?"  
  
"He will take her to Boromir," Legolas replied. "Boromir has power and your Angelus will need it. He is weak and needs to rebuild what he has lost."  
  
"And you know this how?" asked Xander.  
  
Legolas turned his steely blue eyes on the Vampire/boy. "I know more than you could even comprehend. I can feel them. Their essense calls to me. Like yours..."  
  
Xander torn himself from Legolas' gaze. "Then why are we still here?" he said finally after an uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Yes, indeed," agreed Giles. "Buffy, you and Legolas go find Boromir and see if Angelus has taken Willow to him."  
  
"Not without me they don't," interrupted Xander.  
  
"Not a good idea," said Buffy. "Willow wouldn't be able to handle.."  
  
"I don't care," shouted Xander. "Its Willow. You aren't going without me."  
  
"Alright. But if you get in the way.."  
  
"I just want Willow safe."  
  
  
  
Willow woke up. She looked around. Was she back in the warehouse? Outside she could hear voices arguing. Angel and...?   
  
"You fool," shouted Boromir. "Why did you bring her here? Do you not know what she is?"  
  
"She is our best chance at getting out of here alive," replied Angelus. "With her, we can force the Slayer to let us leave town. Or is that not what you want?"  
  
Boromir growled. "I want my ring. I want my precious back. What do I care about this town or anything in it."  
  
Angelus stood silently. The ring was gone, but he wasn't about to let Boromir know that little piece of information yet. He still had a use for the Demon.   
  
Neither of them noticed the petite redhead creeping into the room. Willow hid herself behind a crate so she could hear them better. She thought it would be a better idea to try to hear what they were up to before escaping. Buffy would need to know their plans. If she got out of here that was.   
  
"Without the girl," Angelus said finally, "you'll never get your ring back."  
  
"For that reason alone, she lives," snarled Boromir.   
  
  
  
Richard stroked his fingers over the diary on the table in front of him. Why couldn't Krytalia find anymore of the books? He needed them. Without them, he wouldn't be able to continue on with his plan.   
  
His plan. It was all he had been thinking about for as long as he could remember. Ever since he found the book written by his ancestor. The seed planted itself in his brain that day and ever since, it had been germinating and bringing him to this point. Now only the diaries were holding him back.   
  
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that at first he didn't notice the subtle change in the air. But soon, he felt the charge as the air around him started to spark. A ball of green fire exploded in front of his desk, and when the smoke cleared, he saw a tall, very fair woman standing there.  
  
"Quite an entrance," he said as he stood up. "But look what you've done to my carpet. Those burns will never come out."  
  
The woman looked around the room before turning her icy eyes back on him.   
  
"Mammen uuye sina?" she asked in a low voice.  
  
Richard smiled. The ancient language of his ancestor. Finally, things were looking up. 


	19. Fire and Ice

Sorry for delay and shortness of update. Ouch, arm, sore. But on the bright side, my stitches come out on Monday, so yay!!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So you're a vampire now," Buffy said as they walked towards the warehouse where they had last seen Boromir. "What's that like?"  
  
Xander shot her a look. He understood the malice she had towards vampires, but he thought they were friends and was hurt by being lumped in with the evil she'd fought against for so long.   
  
"You know. Bite people, drink blood, its all fun and games," he replied sarcastically.  
  
"I was just asking," Buffy said. "You didn't have to bite my head off, no pun intended."  
  
Xander stopped walking and looked at her. "How do you think it is?" he asked. "I'm dead, no longer alive. I have to watch day after day as the people I love grow older and head towards their deaths knowing I will still be here, forever 18. It sucks bigtime. But what sucks more than that is knowing all this is my fault."  
  
"No its not," Buffy said in a small voice.  
  
"Isn't it?" he snapped. "You don't get it do you? I was, am, the first vampire Buff. I started it all. The only reason you fight for your life night after night is because of what I am and what I did. If it wasn't for me..."  
  
"Then it would have been someone else," she finished. "Its not your fault Xand. Its the demon inside you that did all this, not you."  
  
Legolas had been silent throughtout the exchange. He was disturbed by what he had heard of the destruction of Middle Earth by the demons Xander had made. He also couldn't believe Galadriel, his queen, would betray Xander as he had said. He had listened, along with Buffy, to Xander's story before they had set out to find Willow, and it worried him. Galadriel would have had a reason for doing what she had done. A reason that went beyond revenge. All would become clear in time.  
  
"Easy for you to say," Xander said finally. "You don't live with the guilt I live with."  
  
"You think its easy for me?" she shot back. "I can't always save everyone I try to save. Remember Jesse? I failed him and god knows how many others. But I still try night after night. Without thanks, and without any payment except the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, someone else might be safe from the evil for another night. Its not easy for me."  
  
"I'm sorry," he said.  
  
"So you should be," she said as she hit his arm.  
  
"Hey, ow!" he exclaimed.  
  
"The first vampire, and still a wuss," she laughed.  
  
"I'm not a wuss," he said indignantly. "You just have a hard hit is all."  
  
"Time is moving onwards," Legolas said, interrupting the laughter. "We should continue."  
  
"Blondie's right," said Xander. "Willow..."  
  
"Xander," growled Buffy. "Be nice."  
  
"I was," he replied as they started walking again.  
  
Why did she always fall for the weird ones, he thought to himself. Then it hit him. He was now in the 'weird ones' catagory. Maybe, finally, he would have his shot at the slayer.   
  
  
  
"Mammen uuye sina?" the woman repeated.  
  
"Sunnydale," Richard replied.   
  
"I understand you," the woman said.   
  
"And I understand you," Richard smiled. "But that doesn't explain who you are and why you ruined my carpet."  
  
"He called me Mara, and he loved me."  
  
Richard was intrigued by the look in her eyes, and by her knowledge of the ancient language. He needed to know more.  
  
"He?" he asked. "Who is he?"  
  
"Xander," Mara said so softly he almost didn't hear her. "The one who made me, that gave me a new life and a new name. Then he left me alone and afraid in a place of emptiness." She raised her icy eyes and caught Richard's. "Until now."  
  
"Well isn't this a piece of good luck," Richard chuckled. "I might just be able to help you find your Xander and you might be able to help me out with something."  
  
Mara smiled. She had waited forever to find Xander, and get her revenge for being abandoned to the nothingness.   
  
"Help," she said slowly. "Yes, help would a good thing."  
  
It was Richard's turn to smile. "Lets get you a chair and then we shall talk." 


	20. Nothing gets scorch marks out

And then again, maybe not, he thought as he noticed the Slayer's fingers find and entwine with the Elf's. Why did he always miss his chance? Why did he always get the freaks and Buffy always get the weird ones? His thoughts were drawn back to his time in Middle Earth, and to Mara. She had been so sweet and pure until he had perverted her, turned her into a monster. But even then, he had felt something for the girl. He could still feel the demon inside him longing for her and in a way, so did he. But she had gone and he had no idea where Galadriel had sent her. All he knew was the prophecy that warned of her possible return where he would...something... And he wanted to know what, before he did it.  
  
"Hey Elf boy," he said breaking the silence as they walked.  
  
"Xander..." Buffy started to say with a warning tone in her voice.  
  
"Buff, give me a second please, I have a question," he said interrupting her as he stopped walking.  
  
"Ask."   
  
Legolas turned his icy eyes on Xander. They felt like they were burning through him and that he could see into his mind, finding all his secrets and hidden guilts.   
  
Xander quickly shook off that feeling. "Ilmen i atar koivie, i amil uuva hilya ar eresse i wen saa ar i atar uuva putta i mir ya karnes i korma."  
  
The Elf closed his eyes. He understood what Xander had said and it chilled him.   
  
"Now in English Xander..." Buffy started to say but Legolas' hand on her arm stopped her from finishing the sentence.  
  
"Where the father awakens, the mother will follow and only the daughter of fire and the father will stop the one who makes the ring," he said softly.  
  
"Awakens," Xander whispered. "Oh god, its too late isn't it?"   
  
His dark brown eyes met the icy blue ones of the Elf's. He could see his fear reflected there. Legolas knew, and now, so did he. Mara really was returning. If she hadn't already.  
  
~*~  
  
Mara looked around Richard's office. Everything was so different and strange to her. She knew nothing, until her eyes fell on the open book on his desk. She stood and reached for it. Richard sat back and watched her. He'd been having some trouble understanding some of it as his grasp of the ancient language was a bit rusty and maybe Mara would be able to tell him where the other diaries were.   
  
Her long fingers slowly caressed the pages. "Xander," she whispered.   
  
Richard's ears barely caught the word. "Xander?" he asked. "What about Xander?"  
  
"I can feel him on these pages," she said as she closed her eyes. "His thoughts, his feelings." She opened her eyes. "This is his book. These are his words."  
  
"Well now, "Richard chuckled. "That is good news."  
  
Things were just getting better and better.  
  
~*~  
  
Angelus was getting bored. Boromir was fixated on the ring and getting it back. But the ring was long gone and probably destroyed by now. Neither of them would be getting their hands on it but he still had his chance to get his hands on Buffy. And his revenge. Maybe the weak vampire he had been had forgiven her for what she had done, but the demon inside hadn't. And the demon was in control now. He couldn't wait to taste her pain again.  
  
Angelus sat back and closed his eyes, savouring the memory of the agony on Buffy's face as she heard of Jenny Calendar's death by his hands. He couldn't wait to see it again. But this time it wouldn't be her Watcher's lover's body she cry over. This time it would be her little redheaded friend. It would be Willow's body she would find and spill those hot wet tears for. He could almost taste the pleasure of his thoughts.   
  
Taste. He was hungry again. How he had missed the taste and warmth of fresh human blood. Something else she'd stolen from him. He was no longer her trained pet vampire. He was a demon again. He was back to what he should be. A vicious monster longing for revenge. He'd started by killing his entire family all those many centuries ago and many others since then. Now it was her turn. Now it was Buffy he'd be getting revenge on.   
  
He stood and looked around the warehouse. Boromir had stocked up on more followers since he'd helped Buffy rescue the others just a few days previously.   
  
"I'm bored," he said breaking the silence of the warehouse. "And hungry."  
  
Boromir watched the vampire stalk towards the door. He didn't care for him much, but he had a way to get his ring back. That was all he had cared about for countless years. He'd had it in his grasp and been cheated of it by the one called Faith. He would have it, and her, again. Only this time, he wouldn't be fooled by her. This time, it would be her screams of agony that would give him pleasure, not her screams of ecstacy.  
  
"Go then," he snapped. "But do not let your hunger betray you."  
  
Angelus laughed. "Betray me? Think I haven't survived all these centuries by making mistakes?"   
  
He shook his head as he left the warehouse followed by a small group of vampires. They hungered too and had their master's orders to not let the tall vampire leave their sight. Boromir was no-one's fool, let alone some vampire on a revenge kick.  
  
Willow knew her chance for escape was coming. She had learned all she could. The demon, Boromir, only wanted the ring back. She knew, as did Angelus, that it was gone. There was no way that Boromir would get his hands on it again without following the others back to their Middle Earth. She repressed a sob as he mind turned to thoughts of Xander. There would be time to grieve him, but not now. She had to get to safety and inform everyone of what she'd learnt.   
  
"Do not disturb me," Boromir snarled as he turned and strode back up the stairs leading up to his room.  
  
The remaining vampires settled down to wait. When the others returned, they would be free to enter the night and feed too. Until then, they had to stay and watch over the human prisoner. A humiliating job for their kind. Guarding food instead of eating it. The discontent grew, along with their hunger, as they watched the hands of the clock move.  
  
~*~  
  
"What does it mean?" Buffy asked.  
  
"You really don't wanna know," Xander replied as he tore his eyes from the Elf's and started to walk away towards the warehouse.  
  
"Yes, I do," Buffy said firmly. "If trouble is coming, I need to know."  
  
"Trouble," Xander chuckled as he stopped. "Trouble is nothing compared to Mara."   
  
"Who is she?"  
  
Xander let his mind drift back to his memories of Mara. Of the sweet girl he had met and the demon she had become. He still felt the guilt every minute of every day. Time had not diminished it.   
  
"I loved her," he said softly. "And I betrayed her love. I made her a monster and abandoned her to whatever fate Galadriel sent her to. I could have, should have...been stronger."  
  
Buffy walked up behind her old friend and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You weren't to blame Xander."  
  
He spun around so violently her hand was knocked off his body. "Aren't I?" he shouted. "I caused all this Buff. I started all this..." He waved his hands around him. "None of this would have happened if it wasn't for..."  
  
"If it had not have been you, it would have been someone else," Legolas interrupted calmly. "It was destined to happen. Everything has a purpose Xander, and yours has yet to be fulfilled, as have ours."  
  
Buffy smiled. "Legolas is right," she said. "I was destined to be a slayer. Its not your fault, its just the way it is. And you were destined for something too Xander. Its still to come but will no doubt make up for everything the demon inside you has done. Don't keep beating yourself up about it. That's my job."  
  
Xander smiled. "Think you could take me slayer?" he joked.  
  
"I know I could," she laughed. "But maybe later. Willow..."  
  
She slipped her arm through Xander's and together, with Legolas following, they continued towards the warehouse to save their friend.  
  
~*~  
  
"This is his last book," Mara said closing it.   
  
"Where are the others? Does it say?" Richard asked.   
  
Mara sat back and smiled. "It does."  
  
Richard could almost taste the victory now. He would have the books. Mara would help him succeed where Krytalia had failed. She was redundant now. He no longer needed her help, or the help of her kind. He glanced at the amulet. Its sapphire was almost black now. The blue fire had all but burnt out. It was too late for Krytalia and her race. They had failed him. No-one ever failed Richard Wilkins without paying the price. He pushed his chair away from his desk and walked over to where the amulet lay surrounded by the souvenirs of other failures. He kept them to remind himself that failure is easy, success needs better henchmen.  
  
He snatched up the amulet.   
  
"Krytalia," he called.   
  
The tall, flame haired demon materialised in the room.   
  
"You have failed me," he said. His long fingers caressed the amulet as he walked slowly around her. "You know what happens now."  
  
Krytalia's eyes grew wide with fear. She had doomed her kind to the darkness for all time. The fire was burning out and she could feel the darkness calling her.   
  
"Please, give me another..."  
  
"Chance? Oh my dear Krytalia, you have had many many chances. I don't need you anymore."  
  
Krytalia's mouth opened in a long scream as she watched Richard crush the amulet between his fingers. Black flames swallowed her and drew her from the light of the room into the nothingness of the dark that was waiting for her and all her kind.   
  
Richard watched with a smile on his face until he looked down at his carpet.  
  
"Oh darn," he sighed. "Nothing gets scorch marks out." 


	21. Teen slasher movies

They hid in the shadows outside the warehouse. Buffy climbed up the fire escape to the nearest window and looked inside.  
  
"There's no sign of Angel," she said, "and only a handful of vampires. I can take them."  
  
Legolas drew his bow and reached for an arrow from the quiver on his back. "Not alone," he said.  
  
Buffy jumped back down. "On three."  
  
She walked over to the door, her foot raised ready to kick it in. "One....two..." But Xander rushed past her and slammed into it, pushing it open.  
  
"Three," Buffy said redundantly.  
  
The vampires came running when they heard the crash. An arrow from Legolas' bow cut one down before he crossed the warehouse floor. As he exploded into dust, they all ran in.   
  
"Find Willow," Buffy yelled as she kicked the nearest vampire. Legolas had drawn another arrow and was aiming it at another vampire when he caught a glimpse of the redhead hiding behind some crates.   
  
"Over there," he called, pointing to the crates.   
  
Buffy saw her. "Willow," she yelled.  
  
Willow didn't hesitate when she saw her friends. She ran out from her hiding place and sprinted across the floor, but a vampire caught her.   
  
"She is mine," he snarled.   
  
Buffy stabbed her stake into the heart of the vampire she'd been fighting and looked at the vampire holding Willow. He was big, but she'd taken on bigger. She was about to make her move towards him when he gasped, then turned to dust in front of her eyes. When the dust settled, there was Xander standing behind Willow, stake in his hand.  
  
"Good timing," Buffy said, turning back to help Legolas.  
  
Willow turned around. "Xander?" she asked before she fainted.  
  
He caught her in his arms and carried her through the fighting and outside of the warehouse. He was about to put her down in the shadows and go back to help the others when they ran out to join them.  
  
"Let's go," Buffy shouted as she ran past.  
  
Xander didn't argue. He slung Willow over his shoulder and ran after Buffy with Legolas behind him.   
  
They made it back to the library and to Giles safely. Xander gently placed Willow down on one of the chairs.   
  
"Is she okay?" he asked.  
  
Buffy checked her neck. "Just fainted," she said.  
  
Giles looked up from his book. "Nothing," he sighed. "I can't find any trace of these diaries. Not a trace of anything."  
  
"Okay, someone want to fill me in on what's going on here?" Buffy said as she sat down opposite Giles.  
  
"I will," Xander said.  
  
~*~  
  
"So who is he?" Buffy said when Xander finally finished his story.   
  
"I don't know," Xander replied. "All I know is he is from a long line, probably going all the way back to your times." He threw a glance at Legolas who had remained quiet throughout the story.   
  
"And the daughter of fire?"  
  
"I don't know that either. I think she might be the demon I saw in my crypt. She had flame coloured hair and knew of the diaries existance."  
  
"Or she might be working for the one who wants them," Buffy said. "Do you have any idea who would want these diaries Legolas?"  
  
"The Ring has strong powers. It has the power to enslave the world. Anyone who possesses it, possesses its power and with it, the world. It can also bring Sauron back. Saruman."  
  
"Saruman?" Giles reached for a book. "That name sounds familiar."  
  
"He was one of the greatest wizards. Saruman the wise. But he was seduced by the dark powers Sauron offered him and he switched his alligience. He betrayed us all."  
  
"What happened to him?"  
  
"I do not know," Legolas replied.   
  
"Of course you don't," Buffy said quietly. "Stupid question. So this one from a long line could possibly be a descendant of Saruman?"  
  
"It's possible," Giles replied. "The story of the Ring could have been passed down in the family for centuries, longer probably, and now, one of his descendants is in the position to fulfill what his ancestor failed to do. Possess the Ring and bring back Sauron."  
  
"Great," Buffy said. "Angelus has returned, there's this Boromir demon, Xander, a long lost vampire love of Xander's, and now this ancestor guy trying to bring back a Ring that was destroyed and could be used to bring back this evil guy and take over the world. Can this day get any better?"  
  
"Hey!" Xander exclaimed.  
  
"Sorry Xand. I wasn't blaming you."  
  
"But I am," he said softly.  
  
"We've already been through this," she said kindly. "There's no point going over it again."  
  
"Yes, we have to figure out who is behind all this and stop him before he gets hold of any diaries," Giles said.  
  
"I think we should look into finding this daughter of flames. Maybe she will know something we don't," Buffy said.   
  
"Good idea," Giles said before darting off to search for some more books.  
  
Buffy watched him go as she fell down onto a chair beside Willow. "How are you feeling?" she asked.  
  
"Like I am trapped inside some weird dream or something," she replied. "I'm so confused."  
  
"We all are Willow," Buffy said. "Everything is so messed up and it looks like there is a huge disaster coming, but we can deal. We always do."  
  
Willow smiled. Buffy always made the terrifying seem like nothing more than a tacky teen slasher movie. Once upon a time they'd scared her, but after everything she'd been through and seen, Freddy Krueger was no more terrifying than Bugs Bunny. Bad comparison, she told herself. These days, her whole life was a teen slasher movie, except without the obligatory tit shot.   
  
"Remind me to stop watching Scream so much," she whispered to Buffy.  
  
"Huh? Scream?" Buffy was puzzled.  
  
"Just remind me," Willow said.  
  
Buffy shrugged. "Okay Will." She turned to look at Legolas. "Daughter of flames mean anything to you?"  
  
Legolas shook his head. "No," he said.  
  
"Well maybe Giles will find something. When you're ready, do you think you can look on the web for something Wills?"   
  
Willow jumped up. "Oh I did find something," she exclaimed. "I stumbled onto the Watcher's Council site, accidentally of course, and in them, I found some stuff about Xander and the beginning of the Council. I couldn't read much but maybe Legolas would be able to translate them."  
  
"That's great Willow," Buffy said. "Where is it? Can you access it from here?"  
  
Willow shook her head. "I printed everything out and its safe at home. Maybe we can go and get it?"  
  
"Good idea," said Giles who had been listening. "Buffy, you, Willow and Legolas go to retrieve the pages from Willow's house, Xander, you stay here and help me with this reading. Maybe something will seem familiar."  
  
"We won't be long," Buffy said as she stood up and moved towards the door. "I just hope we find something soon."  
  
~*~  
  
"Idiot!" Angelus bellowed. "How could you let her escape?"  
  
Boromir scowled. He was getting sick of all this. And from a lowly vampire. Just who did this Angelus think he was?   
  
"You think I just let her walk out of here?" Boromir yelled back. "I lost most of my best soldiers."  
  
Angelus growled. Best soldiers, he thought to himself. If they'd been the best, Willow would still be here and Buffy would have never been able to defeat them. He was sick of Boromir and his whining. Sick of the whole situation. It was time for him to find someone else how could help him achieve what he wanted. Someone who wasn't hung up on some ring that was beyond possessing now. Someone who had the power to help him. Help him destroy the slayer once and for all. 


	22. New Alliances

"Anything?" Buffy asked for must must have seemed like the thousandth time as she watched Legolas pore over the pages of information they had retrieved from Willow's house.   
  
The elf wearily put the page he'd been reading down and turned his icy eyes on the slayer. "It speaks about the Father, Xander, and this Daughter of Fire that he must find in order to stop the descendant of the ancient one from reforging the Ring."  
  
"Does it say who she is, or where I can find her?" Xander asked, unable to stay quiet any longer.   
  
Legolas shook his head. "It says she is from the "Mountain of Roses" and that when the time is right, she will make herself known to you."  
  
"So in the meantime, we just sit around waiting for her to show up to save the day? And what if she never shows up? What then?"  
  
Buffy felt the frustration Xander was showing, but she knew it wasn't Legolas' fault. These ancient texts Willow had found were very cryptic at best. Why did they never write anything down in a straight forward fashion?   
  
"Does say anything else that might help?" she asked. "Maybe something about the identity of who this is we have to stop?"  
  
Legolas wished he could say more, but there was nothing in the files Willow had found that was of any use now. "Everything is in the Diaries of Belegdagnirion, Xander. Without them, its hopeless."  
  
"But files," Willow finally said. "Aren't they in there?"  
  
"There is a brief mention of them, and some entries, but what diaries they possess haven't been fully translated or entered yet." Legolas was surprised at how well he was adapting to this strange new world. He smiled as he looked over at Buffy. She was the reason he was feeling more comfortable here.   
  
"So all we can do is wait for the Daughter of Fire to appear then?" Xander asked.  
  
"We have no choice," Buffy said quietly as she sat down beside Legolas. "Maybe she knows something thats not in here."  
  
"You're putting a lot of faith in something that is unknown," Legolas said softly.  
  
Buffy sighed as she looked into his eyes. "I have no choice."  
  
"The crypt," Xander exclaimed as he jumped up.  
  
"What crypt?" asked Buffy.  
  
"The one where I was 'sleeping'. The demon I saw, with firey red hair and eyes so blue..." he trailed off as he remembered her. She was beautiful, even for a demon. But then he blushed as he remembered that he'd always kinda had a 'thing' for the demonic ladies.   
  
"Xander?" Willow said as she poked her finger into his ribs. "The demon?"  
  
"The demon? Oh right. She was looking for something and I'm wondering if she was the 'daughter of fire'."  
  
"Can you describe her?" Giles asked as he grabbed one of his many books.  
  
"She was tall, firey hair, blue eyes..."   
  
"Besides that," Willow said rolling her eyes.  
  
Xander blushed again. "She had a kind of tattoo on her arm. A figure eight lying on its side with a line coming up from the middle and it had two lines going through it."  
  
"Hmmm," Giles mumbled as he flicked through his book.  
  
"Anything else about her that makes you think she is the one?" asked Buffy.  
  
"As I said, she was looking for the Diaries and was upset that they weren't with me in the crypt. She also said 'he will not be pleased.' If she is working for the the one I, we, are trying to stop, maybe she isn't the one we're looking for after all," Xander said.  
  
"But she might be. Maybe she was looking for them for another reason. You can't just assume she is on the other side. If she is the Daughter of Fire, maybe she is getting a head start."  
  
Legolas nodded. "We cannot take anything for granted though. Xander might well be right. He might have corrupted her and she might not know who or what she is."  
  
"If she is the one," Willow said quietly.  
  
"Sorry what did you say Will?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Um nothing. I have to go," the redhead replied jumping out of her seat. "My parents are expecting me home."  
  
Buffy frowned but nodded. "I'll call you later."  
  
"Sure," Willow called as she ran out the door.  
  
"She's been acting odd lately," Buffy said as she sat back down.  
  
"Its been an odd time," Xander said.   
  
They sat in silence as Giles read through his book. Occasionally he would put it down and run off to find another book. Xander noticed Buffy and the Elf exchanging those looks again. There was definately something going on there.  
  
~*~  
  
"So he gave the Diaries to your brother, this Culromen?"  
  
Mara nodded. She hadn't thought about him for what seemed like forever. When she closed her eyes she could still his face as he watched her banishment into the accursed place Galadriel had imprisoned her. He hadn't tried to stop her exile, nor had he tried to free her from it. She had wished him a painful death a thousand times over, but there was no way she could avenge what he had done to her. Xander however, was a different story.  
  
"I do not know for sure," Mara said. "But I know he would have given them to Gandalf. They were...friends...before we changed. He would have trusted the wizard."  
  
"Gandalf..." Richard mumbled. "That name is familiar to me. Tell me about him."  
  
Mara curled up in her chair and told Richard all she knew of the ancient wizard. How he fought against Saruman and Sauron to destroy the Ring and bring peace back to Middle Earth. Every word that fell from her lips rang new bells in Richard's head. This all felt familiar to him, like a story he'd heard before and was now remembering.   
  
"What happened to him?" he asked, interrupting her story.  
  
"That I do not know," she said. "They banished me into the abyss from whence you pulled me before Xander wrote his books."   
  
Richard fell back in his chair and opened the Diary in front of him. The writing was still vivid on the fragile pages. He ran his fingers over the words that were written so long ago. The words that held the secrets he had been searching for for most of his life. It was so close now he could almost taste it. He sat there reading, lost in his thoughts.  
  
Mara sat watching him, lost in her own. They were all she'd had for so long. Her thoughts had sustained her throughout her exile and her torment. Thoughts of the revenge she would have on Xander for abandoning her to that fate and never trying to free her. He had said he loved her. That together they would build a new world for their kind. Instead, he had let Galadriel send her away. The world they had planned together was just a dream now. But maybe this man in front of her could do what Xander couldn't. What he'd been too weak to do. She sensed a power in this man that was dormant now, but that soon would awaken. And when it did, she would finally see her new world.  
  
Both were so lost in their thoughts that they didn't hear the commotion coming from outside the room until one of Richard's guards flew through the closed door.   
  
"Oh now look at that mess. Do you know how hard it is to find doors like that?" Richard groaned.  
  
Angelus dropped the door handle he'd ripped off and laughed. "The city will pay for a new one," he said as he stepped over the unconscious body of the guard.  
  
Mara looked at the intruder. She could sense her own kind. This one had a very dark power flowing inside him and it excited her. But she could also sense something else fighting inside him. Something trying hard to gain control.   
  
"That's not the point Angel," Richard started to say.  
  
"You know who I am?"   
  
Richard laughed. "There isn't much that goes on in this town that I don't know," he said. "Why are you here?"  
  
Angelus ignored the female watching him as he pulled up another chair and sat down on it. He stretched out his long legs and let his feet fall onto the top of Richard's desk as he lay back and placed his hands behind his head. "I heard through the grapevine that you hold the real power in this town," he said. "And I think together, we can rid this place of the Slayer and make it great again."  
  
Richard took a second to let his words sink in as he sat back down, grinning. "Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better..." 


	23. Revelations

It was like he was trapped in a dream and he couldn't wake up. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. He could see and hear what was going on, but it was like watching a movie. There was nothing he could do to break free of the prison he was trapped in. It felt like he was screaming into the wind and no-one could hear him. The darkness had him so enveloped that this time, he sensed there would be no escaping it. This time, it would keep him trapped forever. Buffy, Willow, everyone he loved would be lost to him. Then he remembered the looks between Buffy and the blond elf. He knew he had already lost her, but he couldn't let the evil take her. And thats what it was waiting to do. The evilness that had him trapped was just waiting to take them all one by one until everything was as evil as the ones he was watching.   
  
~*~  
  
"I remember hearing them talk of Boromir," Mara said as Angelus finished filling Richard in on what had been going on. "He was killed before they came to us."  
  
Angelus spun around in his chair and finally looked at her. He could sense that she was older than him. Almost older than time. "He didn't die. In fact, he still searches for the ring."  
  
"It was the ring that was his downfall. He desired it and betrayed those he promised to protect."  
  
"And he had it here?" Richard interrupted.   
  
Angelus nodded. "It was here, but it was taken from him by Faith and then I don't remember what happened to it. All I do remember was she touched me and let me be myself again."  
  
"Belyndra is dead," Mara whispered. "Xander killed her a long time ago."  
  
"Belyndra?"  
  
"The one you call Faith. Belyndra is what her mother called her."  
  
Angelus was confused. How did this female know Faith and Xander? She obviously wasn't from this time. "It seems that I am missing something," he said finally.  
  
Mara smiled as she filled him in on what she knew of Faith and Xander.  
  
Angelus was incredulous. "Xander's the first? He was the one who made us all?"  
  
Mara nodded. "He left me in darkness and let me rot there. He promised to love me and always look after me and he abandoned me."  
  
"Well stories are all very nice," Richard cut in. "But they won't help me find the diaries or get the ring back."  
  
"It was destroyed," Mara said simply.  
  
Richard grinned. "That one was. But we can make another one."  
  
~*~  
  
"Aha," Giles said triumphantly. "I found our mystery demon." He sat down at the table and put the book in front of him. "She is a Gravitas Demon, very rare breed too. They can kill with one look from their eyes but are thought to be a peaceful species, well as peaceful as a demon can get," he added quickly after seeing the look Buffy shot at him. "They draw their power from an amulet that is held by their leader and they have coexisted within demon ranks for centuries without once coming into contact with humans. It is believed they were banished from our world, so to speak, after a war with another Demon race and that they would never return."  
  
"But obviously they have returned," Buffy said. "Xander saw one."  
  
"Yes," Giles said slowly. "Something, or someone must have brought her here. A Gravitas Demon would never willingly return to our world without good cause."  
  
"So why was she here then?"  
  
"Whoever is searching for Xander's diaries must have brought her back to find them for him. Gravitas Demons are loyal to whomever they serve and she would have to be enslaved to this person or have a very good reason for leaving her world and returning here."  
  
"Do you think she is the one?" Xander asked.  
  
Giles paused. "There is nothing to suggest that this Demon is the one we are looking for," he said finally.   
  
"But she's here now," Buffy interjected. "You yourself said she'd have to have a good reason for returning here. Maybe she came back to help us. We need to find her"  
  
"Its too late," Legolas said.  
  
"Too late for what?" Buffy asked.  
  
"She's gone."  
  
"Gone? What do you mean gone?"  
  
Legolas closed his eyes. "I felt her anguish as her light was extinguished forever. She has gone, as is the rest of her kind."  
  
"The only way to kill a Gravitas Demon is to destroy the amulet. Without it, they have no life force," Giles said.  
  
"Someone destroyed it," Legolas said simply as he opened his eyes. "She, and her kind are gone, forever."  
  
"There goes our only hope," Xander said. "We've lost. The 'daughter of fire' has been destroyed. There's no stopping them now."  
  
"We still don't know she was the one," Giles said softly. "The 'daughter of fire' may still be out there somewhere. I still don't think she was the one."  
  
"I hope you're right," Buffy sighed.  
  
~*~  
  
Willow lay on her bed thinking. Words were rushing through her head. Why did they sound familiar?   
  
'Mountain of roses'. She'd heard them before but she couldn't remember where. She buried her head in the pillows and closed her eyes.   
  
"Willow?"   
  
"Mom? I thought you and dad were away."  
  
Willow sat up as her mother walked into her room.   
  
"The lecture was cancelled so we came home."  
  
Willow nodded. She was used to her parent's comings and goings by now. They were always off to some lecture or away for long periods of time. She never knew when they'd be home. It felt like they were strangers sometimes. Just people who shared a house with her, not parents at all. But it suited them and her. They had their lives and it kept them from interfering with hers.   
  
"Thats ok with you isn't it?" her mother asked as she sat down on the bed beside her daughter.   
  
"Of course," Willow replied a little too quickly. "I was just surprised to see you home."  
  
"I thought you'd be over at your friend Bunny's."  
  
"Buffy," Willow said automatically.   
  
"Right, Buffy."  
  
Willow rolled her eyes. It was always the same. Her mother would say Bunny, she'd correct her and then it would happen all over again the next time.   
  
"...and I really wanted to hear that lecture too," her mother was saying.  
  
"I'm sorry you missed it," Willow said absently. She had been lost in thought and had missed what her mother was saying.  
  
"Something on your mind?"   
  
For once her mother had noticed her, Willow thought. "Do the words 'Mountain of Roses' mean anything to you?" It was worth a shot, Willow thought to herself.   
  
Her mother smiled. "Its about time you became interested in our family history Willow."  
  
Willow stared at her mother in shock. "Our family history?"  
  
"Of course dear," her mother said as she gently stroked her hair back from her face. "In old German, Rosenberg means 'from the mountain of roses." 


	24. Oops I've done it again

Just another reminder, mostly for the people out there like Thess who more then likely just read the synopsis and not the previous two stories leading up to this one or this finale.   
  
As I posted at the start of Chapter 35 of the Middle Earth story...  
  
Yes I have been told there were vampires in Middle Earth but decided since I know nothing about the LotR book series, the safest option would be to use Artistic Licence and completely ignore their existance. I know loyal LotR fans will be up in arms for me doing that, but I thought its best to not write about something I do not know than to hack my way through and possibly make a load of mistakes and upset people further. It would be nice to think people could respect my decision to do this and just read and enjoy this as a story, nothing more, then get all bent out of shape with me for totally ignoring what is a feature of the books.  
  
Due to my life going to shit, I can't get online as much as I used to and will try to keep this story going as quickly as I can, but everyone knows...shit happens...just mostly to me it seems. However, thanks heaps for all the reviews and support I have been getting and for blackbeltchic, I have no idea what a plot bunny is. Someone used that phrase in a review once and I liked it so used it as a chapter title when I was stuck for one. I guess it could mean something like a twist that gives several options of where the story is going...several new ideas or directions...kinda like the "breeding like bunnies" thing. Its a cute term anyway and I like it. Maybe someone has another idea for its meaning. Also for blackbeltchic...I did a name meaning search for the meaning of Rosenberg and found that it did in fact mean "from the mountain of roses". A site that I just found now actually gives the meanings to the names of Buffy characters and if you are interested, the link is http://www26.brinkster.com/lozarin/namemeanings.html   
  
I might not know a lot about the LotR world, but I do my research when its needed and don't just make things up to fit my story. I leave them out *wink*.  
  
Anyway...on with the show lol.  
  
~*~  
  
Angelus perked up. "Make another one? Another ring?"  
  
Richard nodded. "Its not as hard as you'd think," he said. "I know where and what is needed to make the ring, I just need to know the method he used."  
  
"He?"  
  
"Sauron. Lord of Mordor and rightly the whole of his Middle Earth, but he was cheated and destroyed when the ring was thrown back into the fire," Richard explained.  
  
Mara looked at him, puzzled as to how he knew of these things when he was from this time and not from hers. "How do you..."  
  
"...know these things?" Richard finished for her.  
  
She nodded. "Yes."  
  
Richard's grin grew. "A story, maybe you could call it a myth or legend, passed down through my family line. It seems I have an ancestor who was from your time my dear. The story of the ring has been part of the life of my family for as far back as I can remember. I have always known of the ring, of Sauron and of the story behind its destruction. And I also know the desire to possess it, to bring back the power of Sauron and to bring darkness back to this place that was once your Middle Earth and that is now my Sunnydale."  
  
"An ancestor," Mara said softly. "From my time? Would I know of them?"  
  
"I'm sure their name would be known to you," Richard said. "But at this time, I will keep their identity to myself."  
  
"Why keep secrets?" Angelus cut in. "After all, what damage could this name do?"  
  
"If what you have said is true," Richard said to the dark Vampire, "there are already other forces looking for the ring or looking to stop the creation of another one."  
  
"But they do not know the ring was destroyed," Angelus replied. "Mara is the only one who knows that for sure due to being there when it was thrown back into the fires of Mardor..."  
  
"Mordor," corrected Richard.  
  
"Whatever," Angelus snapped. "As I was saying, Mara is the only one who knows of the ring's destruction. Faith took the ring from Boromir and took it back to this Middle Earth place along with Xander and the warrior who came for it, Aragorn I think was his name. It seems they didn't want the Elf back."  
  
"Legolas is still here?" Mara asked. Her voice contained a touch of awe. Legolas was spoken of with such reverance and legends were beginning to spring up about him in her time before she changed and was banished from the world she knew. There had once been talk of a betrothal between herself and Legolas, but nothing ever came of it and she knew little of him, except for what she'd heard from Xander and others who had known him. It was curiosity tugging at her now, not anything else. She still had all her desires set on finding and destroying Xander. Revenge was her driving force now, not an old fantasy.  
  
"He's still here," Angelus scowled. "With her."  
  
"Yes her," chuckled Richard. "This 'slayer' I have been hearing about. Buffy? Well she'll be unable to stop me."  
  
"That's what you think," Angelus shot back.  
  
"Its what I know. Nothing and no-one can stop the ring this time."  
  
~*~  
  
"Willow, you look pale. Are you feeling alright?" her mother asked.  
  
Willow gulped. She had a lot to think about. They had been searching for this 'Daughter of Fire' and the whole time, it had been her they were searching for. She looked at her mother and was once again surprised to see concern on her face. Her mother barely remembered she had a daughter most of the time, let alone spent time worrying about her.   
  
"I'm fine," Willow lied. "I just have a headache coming on I think."  
  
Her mother smiled. "Maybe you should lie down and get some rest. That always helps me."  
  
"Yeah," Willow said as she fell back on her pillows.   
  
"I'll let you rest," her mother said as she stood and walked towards the door.  
  
"Mom..."  
  
She paused in the doorway. "Yes dear?"  
  
"Do you have any books or research on our family history?"  
  
"Of course we have books. Your father spent months putting it all together last year. How could you forget that?" her mother replied.  
  
"I've been...busy with school," Willow lied again. "Do you think he'd mind if I took a look at them?"  
  
"Your father would be delighted to know you were finally interested in this. I'll bring them up after dinner."  
  
Willow lay back and watched her mother leave her room. She was still troubled by the prophecy and knowledge that she was the one who would help Xander stop the 'ancient one' from reforging the ring. That part that kept puzzling her was what Xander had said about her being the last in the line of an ancient one. She had to read her father's family histories and find out once and for all if she was indeed the 'Daughter of Fire' that they had been searching for, or if she was just over-reacting. After all, with her red hair, she always seemed to be singled out for something. Maybe it was just her redhead's imagination running away with her again.  
  
~*~  
  
After what seemed like hours, Xander finally broke the silence.   
  
"Maybe we should see what we can learn about this person we will be fighting."  
  
"What do you know about him except for the fact that it is a he, and that he is descended from an ancient line?" Buffy asked.  
  
"That's all I know," Xander replied sheepishly. "They didn't tell me anything."  
  
"They?"   
  
"The people who freed me. The ones who sent me back here to stop this."  
  
"That doesn't tell us much," Giles said. "But its better than nothing."  
  
Buffy smiled at her watcher. "You've found stuff with less to go on."  
  
"Exactly," Xander exclaimed. "You're the super-watcher."  
  
The look that everyone shot him shut Xander up. He was the First Vampire and they were treating him like he was the same old goofy Xander. But in a way he was. Everything he had been through in Middle Earth seemed like it happened to someone else a very long time ago. And in a way, it had. He was back in the time he knew, amongst the people he knew and his old self was breaking through again. But he was still aware of the darkness lurking inside him, just waiting to escape again and create more chaos. It was only his guilt holding him back. He could still hear Faith's soft gasps, see the light leaving her eyes and feel her body dying in his arms when he was alone with his thoughts. Maybe that was why he kept letting his old self out to play. Maybe if the goofy Xander was around and playing, the dark Vampire Xander was stuck deep inside him somewhere and would never be set free again.   
  
"So..." he said finally. "Books?"  
  
"Books? Oh yes," Giles stood up and walked back amongst the shelves. "Research."  
  
"Research, goody," Buffy said rolling her eyes.  
  
~*~  
  
"Its almost time," a soft voice said through the darkness.  
  
A pinprick of light broke through the black and shone onto her face. She covered her eyes and rolled over. It was peaceful here. The darkness had held her in its embrace for so long, she didn't want to leave it. It wasn't dark to her. She knew where she was. She was home and nothing was going to make her leave now.   
  
Turning her back on the voice and the light, she walked slowly away, her fingers caressing the petals of the roses that grew all over, surrounding her. 


	25. Research sucks

Research.  
  
It seemed all she ever did anymore and for once, Willow had had enough. But at least this time, she wasn't doing research for anyone but herself. She had to find out if she was the Daughter of Fire that they had been searching for or if she was just losing her mind once again. Her money was on the latter. She didn't feel like an all powerful daughter of anything. Let alone someone who was destined to save the world from yet another ancient evil. That was Buffy's job, not hers. She was the brainy sidekick, much like Xander...the wacky one.   
  
But he was no longer that was he? she asked herself. Now the group dynamic had changed. Buffy was still Buffy, but Xander was more than a wacky sidekick now. He was one of "them". Well technically anyway. He was the one who made them all. Somehow it did seem like the sort of thing he would do. Xander always had a way of screwing things up and how much screwier could he get than being the First Vampire? And Faith, always on the outskirts of the group, but just as she was gaining acceptance, she was gone. Dead. Killed by Xander.   
  
Willow was still having trouble getting her head around that bit of information. They thought she didn't know about it, but she had heard them talking when they thought she was sleeping. She wanted to feel pity or sadness for Faith, but she couldn't. She had never trusted or liked the dark Slayer. Instead she felt guilt. Guilt because she still clung to that mistrust and dislike. Even in death she couldn't let those feelings go.  
  
"Here you go hunny," her mother said as she came back into her bedroom carrying several heavy looking books. "Your father's research into our family history."  
  
"Uh thanks mom," Willow replied as she jumped up off her bed and made room for them on her desk. "Have you read them?"  
  
Her mother smiled. "I keep meaning too, but I can never find the time to sit down and appreciate them."  
  
"I'll appreciate them for you then," Willow said.  
  
Smiling still, her mother kissed Willow on the top of her head before she walked out the room and left her daughter to read.   
  
Uh-oh, Willow thought to herself. Something was up. Her parents barely noticed she was alive most of the time, let alone showed her any random signs of affection. The kiss puzzled her, but she filed that feeling away for now. She had more important things on her mind. Taking a deep breath, she opened the top book...  
  
~*~  
  
"But I don't want to go back," she shouted. "Its not fair. They don't need me. Why won't you let me rest in peace?"  
  
"Your have not finished your work," the voice replied. "There is still much to do and only you can complete what needs to be done. Without you, it will never end."  
  
"I don't care!" she screamed. "Don't you understand me? I don't give a damn about them or anyone. I'm happy here and no way am I returning there...or anywhere."  
  
"This was never the end for you," the voice continued, ignoring her ranting. "This is never the end for any of us. Its just a resting place before we return to finish what needs to be done. Sometimes its a little thing, but you have so much to do and its time for you to return."  
  
"You can't make me," she was getting petulant now.   
  
"There's nothing you can do to stop me," the voice said. "It is time Belyndra. Time for you to return to finish what you started."  
  
The sudden flash of light illuminated her surroundings. Faith had only seconds to take in the beauty of the roses she had been living amongst before she was ripped from them leaving behind a sandal and a long scream which tore through the darkness behind her.  
  
~*~  
  
Buffy slammed her book closed. The noise reverberated throughout the silent library and made the others jump in their chairs.   
  
"Its no use," she said. "We could read every book ever written and still we'd not find what we are looking for."  
  
Giles gently closed his book. "Now Buffy..." he started to say.  
  
"You know I'm right Giles," she said, looking at her Watcher. "The prophecy says she will come to find the Father...Xander...and thats when they will stop the one they have to...stop."  
  
He did know she was right, but they had to do something. This sitting around doing nothing but waiting was driving everyone insane and that was never good. Or even worse, he thought looking at Buffy, it would give her more time to get even more attached to the Elf. He was beginning to suspect it was too late to stop that now. He wasn't blind to the looks they gave each other. It reminded him of how she used to look at Angel. He almost laughed when he thought about her taste in 'men'. But at least this one was alive and wasn't inclined to torture or kill the helpless and innocent.   
  
Like Jenny.  
  
He hadn't thought of her in months. It seemed odd to find his mind wandering to her at this time. He missed her. In the few quiet moments he used to sit and remember her, he found his mind wandering down a dark road he didn't like to travel.   
  
What if she had been his last chance to have someone to love? What if in not protecting her from Angelus, he had lost love forever? What if he never found anyone to take her place? What if this meant he was going to end up alone?  
  
Even now those thoughts haunted him. Maybe thats why he kept busy with research. If he kept his mind otherwise occupied, he didn't have time to think like that.  
  
"Giles?"  
  
Buffy's voice drew him out of his painful thoughts and he was grateful for that...for once.   
  
"Ah yes, you have a point," he finally said.  
  
"One point to the Slayer," crowed Buffy. "Do I get a gold star too?"  
  
"Don't push your luck," Giles retorted. "Sarcasm isn't attractive."  
  
Buffy poked out her tongue at her Watcher before turning to Legolas who had been watching the exchange with interest.  
  
"You think I'm attractive don't you?" she said in a low, seductive voice.  
  
Legolas blushed which gave her her answer.   
  
"See," she said poking her tongue out at Giles again.  
  
"This is beginning to go to one of those scary places my mind doesn't like," Xander piped up.  
  
"Kinda ironic that your mind doesn't like scary places," Buffy replied arching an eyebrow at her friend.  
  
Xander sighed. "You know what I mean Buff."  
  
Yes she did know what he meant, but as always, she chose not to acknowledge the attraction Xander felt for her and the obvious discomfort and pain he went through whenever she was interested in someone else. Instead she said nothing.  
  
"Maybe we should follow Willow's example and call it a night," Giles said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Good idea. Maybe tomorrow...err...later today we'll find something," Buffy yawned. She stood and took Legolas' hand. "We'll catch up with you later."  
  
Giles and Xander watched as she wrapped up in Legolas' arms and together, they left the library.  
  
"Think she'll ever fall for anyone human?" Giles asked.  
  
The hurt look in Xander's eyes gave him his answer.  
  
~*~  
  
The book made a dull thud as Willow closed it. Everything now made sense. She thought back over everything they had learnt or been told about what they were now facing.   
  
1. The descendant of an ancient one was going to try to reforge the Ring.  
  
2. He would be helped by "the mother". The Vampire Xander had made and loved.  
  
3. Only Xander and the descendant of another ancient one, the Daughter of Fire, could stop them.  
  
4. The excretement was about to hit the electric wind blowing machine.  
  
Slowly she stood up and walked over to her dresser and looked into the mirror. Softly she began chanting as her hands moved towards her reflection. A red glow appeared above her head and as her chanting continued, so the glowing continued to move around her until it covered her completely.  
  
In that moment, she finally knew the truth. In that moment, she knew everything. In that moment, she knew all the answers.  
  
But would anyone believe her? 


	26. Its just so unfair

She looked around.  
  
"I know this place," she said softly to herself. But it felt more like a strange deja vu than a real memory. But there were flashes running through her head like scenes from a movie. And she was in them.   
  
She sank to the ground, her hands cradling her head. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to go back to where she'd been. Back to where it was dark and peaceful and she was surrounded by the sweet smelling roses. Here it was bright and noisy and she could sense the evil all around. Why had they sent her back? Throwing back her head she let out a long scream of pain and frustration.   
  
~*~  
  
It was taking too long, he thought to himself. He should have found the books by now and his plan should be in action. He'd wasted time relying on the Gravitas Demons and it had cost him. Not as much as it had cost them. He chuckled softly then he noticed the dark Vampire staring at him. After collecting his thoughts, he addressed both of them.   
  
"Enough time has been wasted. Its time for action."  
  
"Well its about time," Angelus replied.   
  
Mara smiled. "Now we find Xander?"  
  
Angelus rolled his eyes. "Who cares about that snivelling, insignificant worm? Its time to make the Slayer pay for everything she's done."  
  
"Revenge? Is that all you can think about?" Richard snapped. He needed to find better allies. "There is more at stake here then your petty quarrels with these people."  
  
"But revenge is such fun," Angelus grinned. "Nothing beats the rush of pure and bloody revenge."  
  
"You can have that and more once we find the books and once the power of Sauron is back where it should be. Once his Ring is mine, I will bring the Lord of Mordor back and the world will be his again and this time, no-one will stop him, or me. I will rule with him and you can have all the revenge and bloodshed you desire."  
  
"You have a lot of faith in this dark Lord of yours," Angelus said. "Just how are you so sure he will be willing to share his rule with you?"  
  
Richard grinned. "I already told you, my family goes back to the time of his rule. He knows who I have descended from and he will need someone in this time he can trust. Someone who knows how this world works today. So much will be different from the time of his rule."  
  
Mara had sat silently, listening to the two men. Yes, he had said he was descended from someone whom she would know, but he had refused to name him. Her mind had been trying to think back to her time in Middle Earth, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. And technically, it was. Several lifetimes in fact. Her mind was still foggy and trying to adjust to everything in this new world. The old one she was from seemed like a dream now. But vivid dreams. She could hear voices, see images and feel the emotions behind them.   
  
"Saruman," she said softly, looking straight at Richard.  
  
"That name is known to me," he said. "But if you are thinking I have anything to do with him, you are very much mistaken little lady. Saruman was a fool who thought he knew better than my ancestor. He failed where I shall succeed. And I shall do what my ancestor didn't have the nerve to do. I shall take the Ring and with it, rule this world."  
  
~*~  
  
"Do you miss your world?" Buffy asked Legolas as they walked back to her home.  
  
"I miss the woods, the rivers, the birds," he replied. "This land of yours is very...loud."   
  
Buffy laughed as she watched Legolas struggling to cope with the concept of cars and traffic. They had been walking along the road for a while and she had given up trying to explain them to him. To him, they were Valarauko. Just demons.   
  
Then the sadness hit her. He didn't belong here and maybe, one day, he'd go back to his own world.   
  
"Its not fair," she said.  
  
"What is not fair?" Legolas asked.   
  
Buffy stopped walking. "I said that out loud didn't I?" She blushed as she tried to make up something to tell him. She didn't want him to know what she'd really been thinking.   
  
"You are thinking of my returning to Middle Earth aren't you?" he said softly.  
  
"No," she said a little too quickly.   
  
Legolas reached down and cupped her chin, lifting her eyes up to his gaze until she was lost in it.   
  
"It is unfair," he said softly as he slowly leant in and touched his lips to hers.  
  
~*~  
  
Giles might, she thought to herself as the red glow faded and she sat back down on her bed. Giles believed a lot of things that ordinary people wouldn't. But it was too crazy even for her to believe, and like Giles, she believed crazy things too.   
  
Curling up into a ball, she thought back to the days when everything seemed so much easier. Before Buffy, Vampires, Demons and everything that had been going on the past few years. Maybe life would have been better if she hadn't found out the truth about those things that bit in the night. But it was too late now. There was no way to turn back time, erase everything she'd been through and now knew. If there was, she would gladly do it. She would give anything for things to go back to how they were. Xander would still be Xander and she wouldn't possess the answers they had been looking for.   
  
She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come.  
  
And just as the darkness wrapped her in its embrace, a scream cut through the night air.  
  
~*~  
  
The scream eased into soft sobs as she remained on the ground, holding her head. She couldn't remember anything but she could feel and see things that made her sure she had been here before. But when? Who was she?  
  
"Oh my god," came a voice from behind her. "Faith?"  
  
She got to her feet and turned slowly around. "I know you too," she said as she stared at the small redhead standing in front of her. "But I can't...remember."  
  
"Oh my god," Willow said again. "Faith? But Xander said you're dead. You died a long time ago, back when you went with him to..."  
  
"Dead?" Faith said slowly. "I remember...nothing. I see...images in my head, but they don't make sense. I see...monsters and a small girl fighting them. I feel love then emptiness." She looked straight into Willow's eyes. "Is this hell?"  
  
"Close," Willow laughed. "This is Sunnydale and you've come back Faith. But why?" 


	27. Losing grip

Willow had spent all night listening to Faith and trying to figure out why she had been returned to them. Even more puzzling to the redhead was how Faith was alive again. Xander said she had been killed. In fact, he didn't say that much about her or the time they had spent together in Middle Earth.   
  
He'd probably slept with her again, she thought to herself. Not that it would have surprised her. She knew how attracted to Faith Xander had been. Even though it hurt her to think of it, she also knew he had slept with her before they left. Why was Xander always attracted to the girls who never wanted him?   
  
Sleep was steadily invading her thoughts, but she managed to keep up with Faith's story. It was almost too crazy to believe, but lately Willow had found herself believing all sorts of weird things. If someone told her Santa Claus was real, she'd believe them. Stifling a yawn, she made her mind focus on what Faith was saying instead of letting it screen the porno starring Faith and Xander that she had been scripting in her overactive imagination.  
  
"...and then I woke up here," Faith finished saying.  
  
"So let me get this straight," Willow said. "You went back with Xander thinking you were the one who was to save the World and all that, but instead, you found out that your parents were from there and that your mother had sent you off through time to save you from your father who was the big bad of those days, only just as you found out about her, you were killed and then spent time in a dark place surrounded by roses?"  
  
Willow didn't mean to sound so harsh and skeptical, but she couldn't help it. Something wasn't right and she couldn't figure out what it was. She knew what was going on even if no-one was going to believe her. Now Faith's reappearance was going to throw a major spanner in the works. Now she was definately sure that no-one would even listen to her, let alone believe anything she had to say.  
  
"That's all I know," Faith yawned.   
  
Willow looked at the small clock on her bedside table. "I guess we should sleep now and catch up with everyone else in the morning."  
  
But she was speaking to herself. Faith had curled up on her bed and was fast asleep already.  
  
"Nice for some," Willow said to herself as she wrapped herself up in a blanket and made her way over to a chair. She sat there watching Faith sleep, lost in her thoughts until sleep finally overtook her.  
  
~*~  
  
Buffy lay on her side, her head resting on her hand. She couldn't take her eyes off him as he slept. She had never seen anyone as beautiful as him. It seemed odd to her to think of a man as being beautiful, but in Legolas' case, he was. Sleep made him even more beautiful.   
  
Gently she reaches out her hand and let her fingertips trace along his cheekbone. She drew them back as he stirred. She wasn't ready for him to wake up yet. For now, Buffy was content to watch him sleep and stay lost in her thoughts. The logical side of her mind was telling her this would like it had been with Angel. Impossible and painful. Like Angel, Legolas was not human and therefore, there was no possibility of a future with him. The other side of her mind was telling her that this was nothing like it had been with Angel. Legolas wasn't a 'monster' and there was no way he'd lose his soul. But deep down she knew that he didn't belong here and it was tearing her apart inside. She had thought she loved Angel, but what she was feeling for Legolas made that all pale in comparison.   
  
Unable to stop herself, she reached out and brushed his hair back from his face. This time she didn't pull back when he stirred.  
  
"Good morning," she whispered softly as he opened his eyes.  
  
Legolas rolled over and cupped her face in his hands. "Good morning," he replied, leaning in to kiss her.  
  
She pulled back. "Ugh, morning breath," she giggled.   
  
Legolas didn't understand what she meant, but he understood enough to realise she didn't want a kiss. Instead, he gently kissed her forehead.   
  
Buffy felt herself melt. How was she ever going to be able to let him go?  
  
~*~  
  
"This is bullshit," Xander yelled as he threw the book down on the table. "We've been looking for days now and we're still no closer to figuring this out."  
  
Giles sighed. He understood Xander's frustration. He was feeling it too, but he dealt with it in different ways. Sometimes he just wanted to give it all up and run away somewhere where there were no Vampires, Demons and magic Rings that could destroy the world. But the part of his mind that made the most sense told him that there was nowhere safe he could run to that would be safe. He knew too much now. Like the others, he knew what goes bump in the night and many other things besides. Only complete and permanent amnesia would be able to help him live a normal life now.   
  
"There has to be something," Giles said. "I just had the strangest feeling of deja vu. I guess we've had this discussion before."  
  
Xander looked over at the Watcher and smiled. "I guess we have been doing this routine a lot of the past few days."  
  
"We certainly have," Giles replied. "But we have to be missing something. The answer is here somewhere I can feel it. Just trying to sort through all this material is taking more time than I thought it would."  
  
"Well I hate to throw another complication into the mix then."  
  
They had been so busy talking that neither man had heard Willow enter.   
  
"Complication?" Giles asked.  
  
"That's all we need," added Xander.  
  
Willow stepped aside and the two men could see the small figure that had been hiding behind her.   
  
"No," cried Xander. "It can't be..."  
  
Giles was puzzled. "Can't be...?" He looked closer. "Oh my goodness, Faith."  
  
"What kind of sick joke is this?" Xander demanded. "You're dead. I..."  
  
"Killed me," Faith said softly.  
  
Willow's mouth fell open. Xander had killed Faith? But he said simply that she had died back there in Middle Earth. He certainly never alluded to his role in her death.   
  
"Xander?" she said.  
  
"I'm sorry Wills. I couldn't tell you. I have lived with the guilt of what I did for so long, I couldn't take your guilt trip too. Besides, I never know what to pack."  
  
"Thats not funny Xander," Willow said, her voice full with hurt. "You just didn't trust me."  
  
"Willow you know thats not true," he replied.  
  
"Is it? You all discuss things without me. You have meetings without me. You might as well have left me with Angel."  
  
"How...? Why...? When...?" Giles muttered, still in shock.  
  
"I don't know," Faith replied.   
  
"What do you know?" Xander snapped, his attention moving from Willow to Faith.  
  
"I know this will get us nowhere," Willow cut in. "We were up most of the night talking and she doesn't know much. Faith has no idea what happened, how she got back here, or why."  
  
"When you said another complication, you weren't kidding," Giles sighed. "What, if anything, do you remember Faith."  
  
Faith closed her eyes and thought back. "Roses," she said. "I remember roses."  
  
"The Daughter of Fire will come from the Mountain of Roses," Giles said softly.  
  
Xander looked at Faith in a new way now. His guilt was disappearing and a new feeling of hope settled over him. Finally a complication that was going to help them.  
  
"Is she?" he asked Giles.   
  
"I can't think of any other reason for Faith returning unless she is the one we have been looking for."  
  
"No, you have it wrong," Willow said suddenly. "She's not the one. I don't know why she's back, but she's not the one."  
  
But Giles and Xander were too busy to listen to her. Their noses were buried back in the books, ignoring the presence of both young women now.   
  
"Notice how they ignore you yet again?" Faith whispered in Willow's ear. "You aren't important and you know it. They've never needed you. You just get in the way and cause more problems than you think you solve. Why are you even here Willow?"  
  
"I know who you are," Willow snarled back. "And I know why you're here. You won't succeed, no matter how much you try."  
  
"But I already have," Faith purred. "It took you a while, but I know now you can see right through me. Such a shame that they do and in the end, I always win." 


	28. My immortal

By the time Xander and Giles looked up from their books, Willow had gone.  
  
"She said she had something to look up on her computer at home," Faith said by way of explanation.  
  
"Strange that she didn't say anything before she left," Giles murmered.  
  
"She's been a bit weird lately anyway," Xander added. "Something's up with her."  
  
"She seemed ok to me," Faith shrugged. "So anyway, whats the buzz? What's going on here in good old Sunnydale?"  
  
Xander smiled. "Bad guys, prophecies, end of the world....the usual."  
  
"Gee, nice to see nothing ever changes, " Faith said, rolling her eyes. "So, who is gonna fill me in on the goss?"  
  
"Goss?" Giles asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Goss...gossip," Faith said. "What's been happening? Who's ass are we gonna beat on this time?"  
  
"I wish we knew," Giles replied.  
  
"So what do you know?"  
  
~*~  
  
She hadn't changed. Last night had been an act, Willow thought to herself. She'd never trusted her and her mistrust had been justified. But why was she the only one to see Faith for what she was? Xander, as always, thought with the wrong head as far as Faith was concerned. Plus add to that now his guilt over 'killing' her. Pity she hadn't stayed dead, Willow thought bitterly. Then there was Buffy. She had been so glad that there had been another Slayer in town, someone to share the load, that she hadn't seen the darkness in her.   
  
Willow threw herself down onto her bed and picked up the book her mother had given her. She'd read most of it before she'd found Faith the night before and her mind was still boggling from it. But now Faith was back, no-one would believe her if she told them what she knew now.   
  
She slowly flicked through the pages. Why hadn't her parents told her of this before now? It would have certainly answered a lot of questions she'd been having in the past few months. She'd thought her magical abilities were coming from the things of Miss Calender's that she had found and been going through. Now she knew it was an ability she'd been born with. Something passed down to her from her ancestors.   
  
She smiled as she thought of her parents' reactions to this. They probably did that selective memory thing they were so good at. Her parents had the ability to forget or totally ignore anything they didn't want to know. Sometimes she envied them.   
  
The light was flashing on her phone.  
  
"Oz," she whispered as she reached for her phone. He should have been back by now. He had probably called to let her know he was home.   
  
"Hey baby. I'm sorry for not calling sooner. Well, obviously I'm not back. We're staying here a bit longer and should be back....hey guys, I'm on the phone...should be back next week. I love you."  
  
She put down the phone, trying hard to hold back the tears threatening to overflow her eyes. Oz, the one person she knew she would be able to count on wasn't coming back anytime soon.   
  
~*~  
  
Xander could see something had changed the second Buffy and Legolas walked through the door. She almost glowed with happiness, something he hadn't seen in a long time. The Elf couldn't take his eyes off her, not that Xander could blame him. Part of him wished he had been the one to affect Buffy like that, but he knew it was something that would never happen.   
  
"Looks like someone had a happy....night," he observed, trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice.   
  
Buffy shot him a look that he was glad couldn't kill.   
  
"I said night," he mumbled to himself.  
  
Buffy ignored him and wandered into Giles' living room. She stopped in shock as she saw him deep in conversation with someone very familiar.  
  
"Faith?" she gasped.  
  
Giles and Faith looked up from the books and things they had been discussing.   
  
"B," Faith smiled.  
  
"How...? When...? Why...?"  
  
"Already had that conversation," Faith grinned. "And the answer is...I still don't know."  
  
"But we think we may know now," Giles added. "Meet the Daughter of Fire."  
  
"Ok," Buffy said slowly. "This is making no sense at all. How can Faith be the one we have been looking for? And why isn't she dead? I thought you said Faith died Xander."  
  
Faith shot Xander a look. "Left out a few details didn't you," she commented. "Yes I was dead, but I was sent back."  
  
"That's the one part I can't explain," Giles said.  
  
"Elves are immortal," Legolas started saying before being interrupted by Xander.   
  
"But if Elves are immortal, how did I manage to kill Faith?"  
  
"You killed Faith?" Buffy gasped. "No wonder she's pissed at you."  
  
"It was a long time ago and it doesn't matter now," Xander snapped. Turning to Legolas, he asked, "How is it possible?"  
  
"Elves are immortal," he said again. "We don't die, but we can be killed. When this happens, we go to the Halls of Mandos and if we wish, can be reborn into a new body, identical in every way to the one we had before, except we become like children until we grow in experience and knowledge. Only then does our past life become known to us."  
  
"So Faith has been reborn?" Buffy asked.  
  
"It appears so," Legolas replied.  
  
"Cool," smiled Faith. "Reborn...as me."  
  
"But why?" Buffy continued. "Why was she sent back and why now? Giles, are you sure she's the Daughter of Fire?"  
  
"Someone sounds a bit jealous," Faith said raising one of her eyebrows. "Afraid this time you won't be the centre of attention?"  
  
Buffy laughed. "Puh-leeze, as if," she retorted. "I just want to make sure."  
  
Faith said nothing, just smiled to herself.  
  
"Almost 100% sure," Giles said. "We cant be totally sure, but the prophecy spoke of the Mountain of Roses, and Faith said she had been in a dark place surrounded by roses until she was sent back here."  
  
"Looks like this time I will be the winner," Faith whispered in Buffy's ear before she walked towards the door. "I'll be back soon," she called over her shoulder. "I need to grab something from my old place. If its still there."  
  
Buffy watched her go in silence, but inside, she wanted to rip her head off. "You had better be right," she said to Giles through clenched teeth.  
  
~*~  
  
"So we agree. Boromir shall be nothing more than a red herring for the Slayer. We'll set him up to distract her from what we will be doing and then, whilst she is busy neutralising him, we will make our moves and by the time she figures out what's going on, it'll be too late," Angelus grinned.   
  
"You do have the most interesting ideas," chuckled Richard. "Ridding yourself and us of two threats in one move. I like it."  
  
"I would like to be the one to take the Slayer out, but this is more important," replied Angelus. "And anyway, Buffy might survive. I can stay dead in hope."  
  
"From what I've heard and seen, she is a tricky little lady and I wouldn't be surprised if she did."  
  
"And Xander?" asked Mara. "What of Xander?"  
  
"That is up to you," Richard replied. "He is insignificant in the scheme of things. Just the Slayer's puppy dog."  
  
"Xander is no puppy," she growled. "He is...was...my maker, my lover and my master. You underestimate him greatly."  
  
"I think you overestimate him," snapped Angelus. "He is a child. Little more than a pathetic boy who hangs on Buffy's skirt-tails. You seem to think he is a threat to us, but you are wrong. Xander was always nothing, and he still is."  
  
Mara rose off her chair and grabbed Angelus by his throat, lifting him off the ground. "You looked shocked that I could do this to you," she purred. "I was the second of our kind ever created. Imagine what the first can do. Xander is the father of us all. He is the one who made me, made us all. You should fear him for what he is and what he is capable of doing foolish one."  
  
"Please children," Richard said, rising from his chair. "Play nicely together or I'll be forced to take away your toys."  
  
Mara growled again, but she released Angelus who fell to the floor, rubbing his neck.   
  
"Wow, you have toys," came a voice from behind Mara. "I always liked toys. Never had many though. My 'mother' spent all her money on booze and men instead of things like toys."  
  
"Faith," snarled Angelus, his face changing.  
  
"Not a good look for you," Faith quipped. "You look sexier without the fangs."  
  
"Faith? Oh yes, the spare Slayer. I heard you were dead," Richard said.  
  
"Do I look dead to any of you?" she asked. "And long time no see Mara. In fact, I haven't seen you since...that day Xander killed me."  
  
"He didn't do a good job," Mara replied.  
  
"Oh Mara, you should know your history and lore," Faith admonished. "Sometimes...Elves come back. And I'm back better than ever."  
  
"But why Faith? What have you come back for? Revenge? Xander's not here," Angelus said as his face returned to its former state.  
  
Faith smiled. "I've seen him. And no not for revenge."  
  
"Then why?" asked Richard.  
  
"You look like him, you know," she said, changing the subject.  
  
"Look like who?" he asked again, suspicion growing in his eyes.  
  
"Your ancestor," Faith replied. "Gandalf." 


	29. Anything but ordinary

Richard looked at Faith in shock. "How did you..."  
  
"Know?" she finished for him. "There's a lot I know. I know who you are and what you are trying to do. I also know that they are onto you and will do anything to stop you."  
  
"Who are you?" he asked.  
  
"Its a trick," Angelus snapped. "Can't you see that? They sent her here to stop you."  
  
Faith laughed. "Always the suspicious one. Poor Angel. As always though, you're wrong. They have no idea who I am, where I am or what I'm doing."  
  
"So fill us in then," Richard said. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm my father's daughter," Faith grinned.   
  
Richard was getting confused. "Your father?"   
  
"You know him better as Sauron," Faith replied. "I'm here to make sure you succeed where others have failed. I'm here to stop them stopping you and to make sure that this time, my father comes back to regain what he's lost. His kingdom on Earth. Only this time, its not Middle Earth, but the whole world as we know it."  
  
"That's quite a story Slayer," Angelus snarled. "I give you points for imagination but you lose points for total absurdity."  
  
Mara had been sitting in silence throughout the conversation, but now she finally spoke up. "Its true," she said quietly.   
  
How can it be true?" Angelus asked. "Faith is from this time, not yours. She is a Slayer. Born to battle evil, not to help it. How can she be the daughter of this Sauron you've been talking about if she is here, now?"  
  
Angelus wasn't the only one confused. Richard was still stunned that the girl knew his secret and he was even more disturbed that she had shared it with the Vampires. It had been the one thing he had been holding onto. His link to the past that Mara had lived and that he didn't want to share with the dark Vampire. He still didn't fully trust him. He had been the Slayer's ally for many years and he was still unsure as to whether or not he still was. He was playing the game for now, waiting to see what hand Angelus held. But Faith had revealed his hand for him before he had his answers. Now he had to play the game with nothing to hide. Not a prospect he enjoyed.   
  
"He sent me away," she said simply.   
  
"You sure have a way with people," Angelus laughed. "Even your own family gets rid of you."  
  
Faith felt the blood rushing through her veins as she pulled back her arm and punched Angelus hard in the face. The Vampire fell to the ground and sat there rubbing his face.  
  
"One shot is all you get bitch," he spat at her. "Next time, its open season."  
  
"You don't scare me," she replied through clenched jaws. "You're pathetic. Nothing more than Buffy's little pet Vampire. Do you honestly think you scare anyone?"  
  
"Things change," he growled. "And soon Buffy will learn that even the most tame pet can turn on its master and bite."  
  
"Children, there'll be time to play later," Richard warned. "But now, we have things to do."  
  
~*~  
  
"I've been thinking..." Buffy said.  
  
"There's a shock," Xander muttered under his breath.  
  
Buffy ignored him and carried on. "What if the one we are looking for is that Boromir guy? He's an ancient one, from Legolas' time, he's here now and desperately trying to get the Ring. What if he is trying to reforge it now its been lost to him in this time?"  
  
Giles put down his book and looked at her. "You might be on to something," he said. "He wanted the Ring and he did take Willow."  
  
"Angel took Willow," interrupted Xander. "Don't forget him."  
  
"I can't," Buffy said sadly. "I just wish I knew why."  
  
"Its obvious," continued Xander. "He's been playing you the whole time. He never changed Buff. Once evil, always evil."  
  
Buffy raised her eyebrow as she looked at him. "Speaking from experience?"  
  
"That's different," Xander said softly. "There are things I've done that I have to make up for. All the pain I've caused...I feel it. Every minute of every day. Constant guilt. You have no idea how hard it is for me."  
  
"Why is it so different for you?" she snapped. "Angel lives with his guilt everyday too. Why have you never trusted him?"  
  
"I tried," he replied. "And every time, he's proven me right. Remember what he did to Miss Calendar and what he's tried to do to all of us? He's a monster Buffy. Always has been, always will be."  
  
"So are you," she whispered.  
  
Of all the things she had ever said to him or the times she overlooked him, that one sentence hurt the most. Unable to respond, Xander stood and walked towards the door and without looking back, he walked through it.  
  
"That was unfair Buffy," Giles said in his scolding father voice.  
  
"I know," she replied in a tiny voice. "I couldn't stop myself."  
  
"He has done wrong, yes, but its not his fault. He can't help what he has become."  
  
"And Angel can? Why is it always different for him?"  
  
"Angel did some terrible things when he turned," Giles said. "Its sometimes easier to forgive than to forget."  
  
"It wasn't his fault," she replied. "It was mine."  
  
"It was no-one's fault," Giles sighed. "You couldn't have known what would happen and its too late to turn back the clock and assign blame now. What's done is done. We have to move on and work together to stop Boromir, or whoever it is, from trying to bring back this Ring."  
  
"You're right," Buffy smiled. "I'll go after him."  
  
Legolas had been silent throught the exchange. He didn't know everything that had gone on between Buffy and the one she called Angel. But he knew enough to guess they had been close once and no longer. He had hurt her in the past and she still carried the scars. Maybe not physically, but certainly emotionally. Her relationship with Xander puzzled him though. He sensed a deep love towards her coming from him, but it wasn't returned. She did care for him, but it wasn't the kind of love Xander was hungering for.   
  
"Legolas," Buffy said. "Are you coming?"  
  
Legolas shook his head. "You need to speak alone with him," he said. "I will remain here and help Giles."  
  
Buffy hid her disappointment. She didn't know how long he would be remaining here with her and she wanted to spend every second she could with him.   
  
"I won't be long," she said.  
  
He watched her go, feeling her disappointment, and his own. He didn't know how much longer he'd be with her either and like her, he wanted to spend every second with her too. But he knew that there was more important things to do. Hopefully when everything was done, they'd have some time before he was sent back...if he was.  
  
Buffy ran out the door and looked around. Xander had vanished. 


	30. Within temptation

Xander was tired. Tired of not being taken seriously. Tired of always missing out on his chance with Buffy. And tired of the guilt.  
  
He tried so hard, but it was never enough. Why was it everyone always expected more? He made mistakes. Everyone did. Granted everyone wasn't responsible for creating an evil that had killed more over time than all the wars combined. Everyone wasn't to blame for Faith's 'death'. He was. And there was nothing he could do to make up for it. No matter how hard he tried.   
  
He'd lived with Galadriel's curse…his soul…for centuries. In a way, he did understand Angel's torment. Not that he would ever admit that to Buffy. That would mean one more thing he was wrong about and he already had a long list.   
  
His biggest regret though was Mara. She had loved him before everything changed. She had loved him when he was just plain old Xander Harris. He had destroyed her too. He had taken her trust and innocence and changed her into a creature of evil. Then he'd abandoned her to her fate. Galadriel had banished her and he never found out where she'd been sent to. He'd also never tried to get her back. He'd left her wherever she was and wallowed in his guilt.   
  
Now, maybe she was back, in this time. Back to destroy him, seek revenge or to help him? All he knew was what the prophecy said. Only he and the Daughter of Fire…Faith…would be able to stop her and the one they were searching for. That led him to think that she would be out for revenge. But would she know he was here too?  
  
~*~  
  
"What other things?" Angelus snarled.  
  
"For one thing, I bet neither of you has taken our guest out and shown her the town," Faith smirked. "Or taken her out for dinner and dancing."  
  
"The sun is out you stupid girl," Angelus spat. "And anyway, I don't dance."  
  
"It was a figure of speech," Faith said rolling her eyes. "And don't call me a stupid girl. I am the only one who knows what is going on here and can make all your plans succeed. What can you do Vampire? Just go do what you do best. Stand in the shadows and brood. Either that or go back to licking Buffy's feet."  
  
Angelus growled and lunged at her, his face changing. This time he took her by surprise and had knocked her off her feet before she could react. Faith landed in a puddle on the floor, the breath knocked out of her. She tried to stand back up, but he had been too quick for her and was kneel astride her, his fists pounding into her face and shoulders. Faith spat at him and struggled to release her hands from beneath his knees, but she was trapped.   
  
"Typical neutered Vampire," she laughed. "You can only hit a woman when she's down."  
  
Angelus sent a stunning backhand across her face. The slap echoed throughout the room, causing Richard to squirm. He didn't like the violence, but he wanted Faith to suffer a little for destroying his little secret. He would step in….eventually.  
  
"What is the food like in this place?" Mara asked, totally oblivious to what was going on.   
  
The unexpected question from the female caused Angelus to stop his attack on Faith and sit back.   
  
"As someone I once knew said to someone else I once knew…happy meals on legs, although without the dinky toy," he replied.   
  
"Happy meal?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about," Richard said. He reached down and grabbed Angelus by the arm and pulled him off Faith. "Maybe you could take Mara out and get something to eat. I'm sure our guest is, as Faith suggested, famished."  
  
"And the sunlight?" Angelus asked.  
  
"There are ways to get around without the sunlight being a problem," he continued. "You know that better than anyone. Plus there won't be daylight for much longer."  
  
Angelus stood and glared down at Faith. "This isn't over bitch. Next time…"  
  
"Next time I won't be taken by surprise," she finished for him.   
  
~*~  
  
Xander sat in the cemetery lost in thought. He wondered how many of the occupants were there due to him. Not directly of course, but because of what he was. He also wondered how many of the occupants were still occupying their 'final resting place'.   
  
Before he met Buffy, he'd never given much thought to cemeteries. To him, they were just creepy places he avoided at night or only went to when someone died. Then he learnt why cemeteries were creepy. He knew now why they had always scared him. But now, they didn't. He found them oddly soothing. Almost tranquil. Here, he was away from the accusing looks everyone gave him. They might not have meant to, but they did it all the same.   
  
He could smell the approaching darkness before he saw it. Everything changed when darkness approached. Maybe they were used to the evil that came out to play after nightfall. Centuries of practice had taught them well. He watched and waited for the darkness to cover the world in its enveloping embrace. Maybe some of the cemetery's occupants would be waking up to a new existance. Expecting a peaceful afterlife, they would find themselves in the waking nightmare he had brought down upon the world.   
  
"I've always loved the night," came a voice from behind him. Xander spun around and found Faith standing there watching him. "Even when I was a child, I was never afraid of the dark like most. It always felt safe to me. Even when I found out about my calling as a Slayer, it still felt safe. Maybe I'm just at home in the darkness, like you are Xander."  
  
"Not anymore," he replied.   
  
Faith laughed. "You're kidding yourself if you think you are any different from them."  
  
"I am different," Xander yelled. "I'm no longer a monster, nothing but an animal, like they are."  
  
Faith walked slowly towards Xander. She reached out her hand and slowly trailed a finger down his cheek. "Once a monster, always a monster," she whispered seductively. "You should be the ruler of them all. But instead you are nothing more than a toothless puppy. You always have been. You have the power to rule them all. Rule this town. But instead you bow and scrape to Buffy. You've let her own you when you should own her. That's what you've always wanted isn't it Xander. You've always wanted Buffy. But she's always been too busy to notice you."  
  
Xander knew she was right, but he refused to admit it to her. "You're wrong," he said through clenched teeth.   
  
Xander could feel Faith's breath against his cheek as her lips moved closer to his ear. "I'm right and you know it. You have the power to take it all Xander. To take Sunnydale and to take Buffy. But you don't have the balls to do it do you? You're always be the follower of the Slayer and never the leader. You're pathetic."  
  
Xander slapped her hand away. "You're the pathetic one," he spat at her. "Always so jealous of Buffy. Always the one left out. You make me sick Faith."  
  
Faith smiled. "I didn't always make you sick though did I? In fact I remember I used to…"  
  
"That was a long time ago," Xander said quietly. "Before I found out what you were really like."  
  
"And what am I like?" she asked.  
  
"A jealous, insecure nothing," he replied. "You will never be anything more. Buffy will always be better than you, smarter than you and she'll always have everyone behind her. What will you have Faith? Nothing!"  
  
"She has me."  
  
Xander knew that voice.   
  
"Mara?" he gasped.   
  
He knew there was a chance she was already here. The prophecy had predicted her arrival, but he hadn't been prepared for seeing her again.   
  
"My Xander," she said softly, stepping out of the shadows.  
  
She looked as beautiful as ever, he noticed. All the feelings he had for her came rushing back as if no time had past at all, as if nothing had happened.   
  
"Mara," was all he could say.   
  
"Yes," interrupted Faith. "Mara and Xander. Are we gonna do this all night?"  
  
Mara ignored her. All she could think about was finally seeing Xander again. A flood of emotions came rushing over her. Love, happiness, anger, hatred, and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to rip his heart out and feed it to him, but now she was finally looking into his eyes, she just wanted to feel his arms around her again.   
  
"I'd almost forgotten how beautiful you are," he said.   
  
"You forgot a lot of things didn't you Xander," she said softly. "You left me."  
  
Xander took a step towards her. She stepped back. He paused. "I didn't want to," he replied. "After you were sent away, Galadriel cursed me. I've lived with nothing but guilt over everything I've done. But mostly over what I did to you."  
  
Mara tilted her head and looked at him. "I don't believe you," she whispered. "You said you loved me."  
  
"I did love you. I still do," Xander replied softly. "I'm so sorry."  
  
"Well this is just sweet," Faith said sarcastically. "A nice fuzzy moment. Should I take a picture and make it a Kodak one?"  
  
"Just another way you are alone and jealous isn't it Faith," Xander said sadly as he looked at her. "You hide your loneliness behind that wall you have built up around you. You like to think you're tough and can handle anything alone, because you always have had to. But you had people you could depend on. People always on your side. You just didn't know how to ask for help."  
  
"I don't need help," Faith yelled. "I can choose who I want and don't want in my life. And I never wanted you."  
  
"You did once," he said quietly.  
  
Faith laughed. "Still obsessing over that? We had sex Xander. It wasn't the 'big romance' you like to think it was. I was horny. You were there."  
  
"Maybe back then I did 'obsess' over it, and you Faith, but I got over it a long time ago. I also got over you."   
  
"Like you got over Buffy?" she retorted. "Even after all this time, you still want her and still can't have her. And it kills you doesn't it? She would rather be with a Vampire than with you."  
  
"But she's not with him anymore is she?" he snapped back.  
  
"No she's not," growled Angelus as he stepped out of the shadows.   
  
"Now isn't this a nice little gathering," Xander said. "Made new friends already Mara?"  
  
"Friends who won't abandon me," she said softly. "I've been so lonely for so long."  
  
"Mara, I am sorry. If things had been different..."  
  
"You would have still left her," Angelus cut in. "Admit it to her Xander. You only cared about saving your own ass. You cared nothing about her."  
  
"You weren't there," he yelled. "You have no idea what I was going through. Although, actually you should since you have been in my position too. Back when you had your soul. I take it its gone bye byes again?"  
  
Angelus threw back his head and laughed. "And thank hell for that! No more moping around feeling all guilty for all the little 'bad' things I've done. And I have done A LOT of those. Souls. They take away all the pleasure and fun in being undead."  
  
"You remember the fun we used to have don't you Xander?" Mara asked.   
  
"I remember," he replied.  
  
Mara walked closer to him. She reached out her hand and lightly grazed her fingers over his chest. "We could have that again," she purred.   
  
Xander closed his eyes and let her words wash over him as he remembered. He remembered Mara as the sweet girl he met and fell for, then the monster he created. He remembered the fun they had had together. The fear they had created, and the passion.   
  
"Its too late," he said. "I can't go back to what I was."  
  
Mara pouted. "You said you loved me. You can have me again Xander. I'm right here waiting for you. Come back to me Xander." 


	31. Going under

"Come back to me Xander."  
  
He felt her words tear into the heart he once had and at that moment, he wanted to say yes. He wanted to be lost in her again. To find the peace he had felt a very long time ago when they had caused nothing but mayhem across the land. But now he knew that that was the past and that it was wrong what they had done, what he had created.   
  
"I can't," he whispered.  
  
Mara drew her hand back and slapped it across his face. "Can't," she spat, "or won't?"  
  
Xander met her gaze. "Both," he replied.  
  
"Then you shall die with the rest," she sneered.   
  
"Its what I deserve," he said softly.  
  
Faith laughed. "I thought only Angel went in for the deep and brooding moments."  
  
"You think you know everything Faith. But in the end, you know nothing. You are nothing."  
  
"Nothing?" she said between clenched teeth. "I'll show you just how nothing I am. I will use your ashes to grow roses in. You are the nothing Xander. You always were and always will be. You think you can stop us? You think that you and those idiots can stop Richard from undoing what you did? My father will return and this time, you will not be around to ruin his homecoming."  
  
Xander laughed. "Still have that high opinion of yourself don't you Faith? I guess self esteem is a good trait but you are abusing that."  
  
Faith reached into her jacket and pulled out a small stake. "I'll show you abuse," she sneered as she ran at him.  
  
"No," shouted Mara as she knocked the stake out of Faith's hand.   
  
Faith's fist curled up and slammed into her face. Mara fell to the ground. Faith stood over her, watching as Xander melted into the darkness.   
  
"Lets get one thing straight," she growled. "They might think you're important, that we need you, but I don't. I think you are nothing more than a fly in the nice pretty ointment. And the best thing to do with flies is to squash them. And that's what I will do with you if you interfere again."  
  
Mara smiled as she watched Faith leave.

* * *

"Boromir was still at the warehouse when we rescued Willow. But I do not know if he is still there," Legolas said.  
  
"He'll be gathering forces before making his move," Giles replied. "He's been defeated twice by Buffy and he'll not risk anything without a lot of back up now."  
  
"Boromir has desired the Ring since he first saw it, but are you sure he is the one we must stop?"  
  
Giles thought for a minute. "I'm not certain of anything anymore. A lot has changed over the past few days. Things I never thought I'd ever see. Xander... Faith..."  
  
"Things happen for a reason. It will all become clear with the passing of time," Legolas said softly.  
  
"Time is the one thing we might have much of," Giles replied.  
  
"Yes I know," Legolas smiled sadly.   
  
"We don't know why you stayed..." Giles started.  
  
"And we do not know how long I shall remain here," Legolas finished for him.   
  
"I see how you look at her. She's a very special person," Giles said.  
  
"I love her," Legolas replied.

* * *

"Per obscurum of nox noctis , meus vox vocis dico vobis. Solvo meus mens quod permissum mihi animadverto verum. Permissum lemma totus animadverto verum."  
  
She had done all she could. If this failed, then there was no telling what would happen next. Willow blew out the candles and lay down, to wait.

* * *

"I couldn't find him," Buffy said as she walked back through the door.  
  
"He will return," Legolas replied. "He needs time alone to think."  
  
"I hurt him bad didn't I?"  
  
"You weren't very tactful," Giles scolded her.  
  
Buffy poked her tongue at him in reply and moved over to where Legolas stood. "How's the research been going?"  
  
"Slowly, but I think we might have a lead. We need Faith though. Any idea where she went?" Giles asked.  
  
Buffy shook her head. "I only know what you know. She went to pick something up from her place...hours ago. Do you think something's happened to her?"  
  
"Its too soon to speculate," Giles said, but the words sounded hollow to him too.   
  
"So we're missing Faith and Xander now," Buffy said. "Any word from Willow?"  
  
"She has not returned," Legolas replied.   
  
"Giles, what if something's happened to her."  
  
"She's been through a lot over the years Buffy, and she's always survived. This will be no different."  
  
"I hope you're right."

* * *

Xander wandered the streets, enjoying the approaching night. He had missed the way the setting sun painted the surroundings with its palate of colours. He had also missed the sounds of the night. He had never understood them or appreciated them until now. Night time was different. It was more exciting. He was sad when he thought back over all the nights he'd wasted. That was, of course, before he'd met Buffy and found out that night time was something to be feared, not embraced. Now he was the thing that went bump in the night. Now he no longer feared the night.  
  
He stopped in front of Giles' door. Did he really want to go back into the accusations from Buffy? Part of him knew she didn't mean it. that didn't make it hurt any less though. She could forgive Angel all his mistakes. Why couldn't she forgive him?  
  
He opened the door and slowly walked in.  
  
"Xander!" Buffy exclaimed as she ran towards him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..."  
  
"I know," he said softly. "So, does the name Richard mean anything to anyone?"  
  
"Richard?" Giles asked. "Who is Richard?"  
  
"I was hoping you could tell me," he said. "Oh I bumped into Faith. She is playing some kind of game here and I don't think it has a character from any Mountain of Roses in it."  
  
"What happened?" Buffy asked.  
  
Xander took a deep breath. "I was in one of the numerous cemetaries and I bumped into an old friend. Faith was with her."  
  
"Old friend?"  
  
"Mara. Also known as "the mother" from the prophecy. I thought Giles explained this."  
  
"I've had a lot on my mind," Buffy snapped.  
  
Xander noticed her gaze had shifted to Legolas. She definately had a lot on her mind. All 6 ft. blond haired of him.  
  
"As I was saying, Faith was with Mara and they were playing very nicely with each other. Angel was also there. And I mean Angel in the bad sense. Faith said something about us not being able to stop Richard bringing back her father."  
  
"So Boromir is not the one we are looking for after all?" Legolas asked.  
  
"No," Giles replied. "We're looking for a Richard."  
  
Buffy sighed. "He could be anyone."  
  
Giles opened his mouth to reply, but before the words could come out, they all slumped to the floor unconscious.


	32. Silent lucidity

Glowing in the darkness, surrounded by fire, they saw a giant eye.  
  
Flames surrounded an iris which looked empty and bottomless. A sense of pure evil eminated from it. It was watching them, watching everything around them. It seemed to miss nothing in the night.  
  
But they could also feel goodness coming from another source unknown to them. It was fighting against the evil of the Eye. But the eye was stronger. Its hatred and malevolence was pushing the goodness back and slowly increasing its hold on the world they were seeing.  
  
Then they saw a faint glimmer of gold. A ring, held in the palm of a small child. But it wasn't a child at all. It was a small man. He looked not much older than a teenager. But looks could always be deceiving. They could feel the power of the ring and knew it was calling for the eye. It was evil and it wanted to go back to its owner. To the one who had made it.  
  
Sauron.  
  
The name coursed through their minds leaving behind a feeling of terror and dread. It was his eye they saw in the darkness. His eye that was unleashing a trail of horror throughout the world they were watching.  
  
Creatures, unlike no demons they had faced before were being created as they watched. A tall man, white as the snow, was bringing them to life from the depths of the earth. His army of darkness and death. They would search and destroy everywhere and everything until they found the ring that was held in the palm of the small man who had vowed to destroy it.  
  
But he was no longer alone. He was surrounded by others now. They recognised Aragorn and Legolas standing beside the one with the ring. Also with him was three more small men, like himself and one not much bigger. They also saw one who they had fought not long ago. Boromir. But this was before he became a demon. He was still human. The last of their party was an older man, dressed all in grey. They could feel the wisdom and magic pulsing through him. The ring bearer was no longer alone. Now there were nine.  
  
But they were still not safe from the Eye or the army of monsters chasing them. They watched as they battled the magic of the white man, fought the monsters in an underground world, and as the grey man disappeared into the darkness.  
  
They felt their loss and despair. All hope seemed gone along with the grey man. But Aragorn wouldn't let them wallow in it. He pushed them on their journey into a forest pulsing with a magic stronger than anything they had ever felt before.  
  
It was tinged with sadness though. A sense of loss permeated the very air they could feel swirling around the trees and the men walking through it. An emptiness lingered amongst the beauty of the trees. They realised what it was when they saw the woman who lived there in the forest. She was beautiful. And she had Faith's eyes.  
  
They were looking straight at them, although they were not physically there. How could she see them? Or was it she was just sensing their presence, in the shadow of a dream, watching everything going on?  
  
In a flash, they could see back through time, to where it all started.  
  
They felt the pain of the Elves as they watched Middle Earth hurting through the passage of time. Everything good and beautiful was becoming destroyed by evil. They could feel the desire of the Elves to heal all these hurts being awoken by a stranger in their midst. They called him Annatar, Lord of Gifts. What they could see but the Elves couldn't was the evil intentions in the heart of Annatar. He wanted the Elves in his service to do his evil bidding so he tricked them into forging rings which he told them would help them in their quest to stop the destruction of the world by evil. But in secret he forged a ring of his own which would control all the ones who wore the rings and took his name back...Sauron.  
  
But it wasn't to be.  
  
Annatar could sense his plan wasn't working so he hatched another one. He seduced many of the Elven women and then took the children they bore from them. They saw the woman with Faith's eyes holding a baby in her arms. They felt the love flowing between the two. Then the heartbreak as the woman screamed into the darkness of the night, her arms empty.  
  
Sauron was defeated and eventually took the form of the Eye they saw in the surrounded by the flames.  
  
They were back, watching the men leave the forest, fighting more monsters, and the loss of the Ring when it came into their world, summoned by Boromir.  
  
They saw Xander and Faith there. The ordeals they went through, the betrayal by Faith and the eventual destruction of the Ring by her.  
  
They saw what happened afterwards. Xander's death and rebirth as the first vampire, the trail of destruction he left behind and saw him kill Faith. They also saw how he helped form the first Watcher's Council after he was cursed by Galadriel, Faith's mother. He tried to redeem himself as best he could, and he was tricked by her into burying himself away.  
  
But it didn't end there. The battles continued and they saw Slayers called and killed throughout time.  
  
And they saw something else.  
  
A small child growing into a man. He remained on the outskirts of the violence and death taking over Middle Earth. He had his own plans. His father had been lost to the world when Faith kicked him into the fires of Mt Doom and he had not forgotten it. Even though Faith was now dead, he still not given up on his thoughts of revenge.  
  
As time went on, he had a daughter, who had a son...until finally, many centuries later, there was a daughter who grew up, denying the past and repressing it into the darkness where it was better left. She married a man and they had a daughter they named Willow.  
  
But by now, the lust for revenge was gone, lost throughout time, and the desire to make up for the wrongs of their ancestor had taken over. The ancestors of Saruman now had a new purpose: to stop the Ring and its evil ever coming back into the world. 


End file.
